


Leviathan

by 123Brooksie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Romance, Smut, idk surprises, mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-17 04:21:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3515192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/123Brooksie/pseuds/123Brooksie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lonely boy named Eren lives in a secluded lake house. His only friend is Jean. One day he encounters a friendly mermaid named Levi.</p><p>Eren is convinced that the bond the two have formed isn't love but Levi knows, he's patient and he wants Eren to figure things out. </p><p>*romance but not cheesy like a fairy tale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"See you later." I wave sadly at my father. His humble old car gets smaller and smaller until it disappears.

Every two months he visits my mother in the hospital that's in town and he had to meet with fellow scientists to discuss the levels of pollution and salt in the lake. The reason we moved here five years ago was so my father can study this body of water. This lake house we live in is away from everything else. The only friend I have is Jean and we meet each other sometimes. We take turns. Today is Jean's day to come to my house.

He lives just on the other side of the large lake and we ride dinghys to get back and forth. The lake is shaped like an isosceles triangle, secluded from the outside world by a thicket of trees and a few weeks ago, in the farthest angle of the triangle, a small mysterious family moved in. My father and I were eventually going to introduce ourselves but he postponed it until after he returned.

My father was going to leave tomorrow but there's going to be a storm later tonight and he didn't want to show up late. In the four years that my mother has been sick my dad has been late... Never and he wouldn't ever be late. He's never been late to his science meeting either. So in a hurry he had to drive down to the far end of the lake and borrow Jean's mother's RIB as usual.

I sit outside on the small staircase that leads to my front door and enjoy the light breeze that blows on my face. I can smell the storm. It's on it's way. I hope that my father can beat it, there's nothing harder in the entire world than steering a boat during a storm. I look out at the greenish water and Jean's figure comes hurling over. He's always so quick using his paddles like wings, treating the heavy water like air. "Eren!" He calls from far out. I squint my eyes at him so I can see his features clearly and he's smiling.

"Jean!" I yell back at him. I stand to my feet and walk towards the dock. The wood on this thing needs management. One of these days me or my father is going to fall through. Jean's eyes suddenly widen and my eyebrows curl upward in worry. The back of his boat is lifted into the air and is then flipped over.

I laugh as he makes his way to the dock. He secures his boat to the old wood and lightly pushes me. "What happened out there?" I ask with a chuckle.

"I don't know. Something tipped my boat." He says seriously. "Stop laughing." He says. His tone sounds annoyed.

"Maybe it was a shark." I say holding in another flow of laughter.

"C'mon you know sharks can't live in fresh water." He says and I can't hold it in anymore. I let out a thunderous laugh.

"Exactly." I snort.

"Hey, at least I'm not the one who's afraid of deep water." Jean says and I stop laughing.

"You know that I drowned when I was little. I have a reason." I say. That reason is I'm still sort of traumatized. While I was drowning my mother was dying as well. I'm a little offended that he would bring that up. After all, I was just teasing him.

"Didn't your father teach you how to swim like last week?" Jean asks. I walk off of the dock and walk around to the sandy shore to let my toes cool in the water.

"He tried to. Even yesterday he tried to. I just can't do it." I explain. No matter how hard my father or Jean tried, I was never able to swim. I think if I wanted to swim I'd probably be able to but as of right now, mentally, I'm not ready.

"I think my mom took your dad to the ocean in the RIB because when I left she wasn't home. I could try to teach you until she comes back." Jean offers.

"No, no, no. It's okay when I'm ready I'll be able- AHH!" I shriek and jump back as something slimy slides across my toe. Jean bursts into laughter and I look down at the ugly little fish flipping around on the wet sand. "What an ugly fish." I say spitefully.

Jean squats down to it. He gently picks it up with his hand. The small beast flops around for freedom, twisting it's small body within the confines of Jean's hand.

"It's a salmon." He says looking over the fish carefully. "Yep, definitely a salmon."

"A salmon?" I ask. "What's a salmon doing all the way out here?"

"Well you know how fish are..." He says. I wait patiently for him to elaborate. "... They can sense when a storms coming. When they sense a storm they leave their native areas to come to calm waters. It's like they lose their minds or something if they can still sense it. I think it tried to commit suicide." He explains.

"Tch, a fish? Everybody knows fishes aren't that smart." I say. It didn't seem like a fish actually thought and had ideas.

Jean throws the specimen back into the water and stands back up. "You know dolphins think a lot like we do. Just like apes." He says.

"Okay, I didn't ask for your zoology." I say with a smile.

"Zoology? I don't even know what that means." He replies. We both start laughing. A strong gust of wind blows and the chimes above my door go wild. "Oh! I have this sweet idea." Jean says. He runs past me, into my house and returns a minute after with a small red pot. "Your dad studies pH and salt levels in this lake right?" He asks. Backing the pot up, he proceeds to dump it's contents into the lake and I stare at him with a poker face. When he tries to empty it into the water the wind is just going to blow it back into his face. Just like that, my prediction became a reality and salt spilled off of him onto the sand. He curses under his breath in pain and rubs his eyes. The pot drifts away into the water.

I try to stifle my laughter to no avail. He's so scatterbrained.

"Your pot?" He says removing his hands from his semi-pink eyes.

"Don't worry about that old thing." I say. "Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah I'm-" he doesn't get to finish.

"Jean! Jean! Sweety?" Jean and I hear from across the lake.

"Mom!" Jean yells. "You're back." He says.

"Sweety come get washed for dinner." Her voice echoes. If you pay close attention you can hear the voice from someone across the lake sort of like a ripple.

"I'm with Eren!" He yells back at her.

"Hi Eren! Jean it's almost really dark." She replies. Jean and I have a look around. We weren't even aware of how dark it had actually gotten. The sky was a dark grey and the storm clouds were scarily close to the water. It looked as if I were to try and touch one of the clouds, I'd be able to. What texture would a cloud reserve? His mother waited in her RIB for her son, waving him over while the clouds got heavier and heavier. 

"Will that salt throw off your dad's studies?" Jean asks. He slowly walks backwards toward the dock.

"A couple of pounds of salt can't throw off this huge body of water's pH." I say with a chuckle.

"Darn." He says. He turns around and jogs to his boat. As he slowly rows down the lake toward his house I can't help but wonder if this is what my life is going to be like forever. This is nice, but it more of the same everyday. I need excitement. It's like everyday is the same. It's peaceful and nice, but sometimes us weak humans need something to interrupt that calm peace. I wish something interesting would happen. 

"Tell your mom I said hi." I yell out to Jean when he's halfway at his dock.

"Eren, no backing out. Tomorrow I'm teaching you how to swim. You better not back out either." He yells back. "You can only become a man when you learn how to swim." He says arrogantly with an equally arrogant laugh. "Oh and it's your turn to come to my house. And sorry about your pot." His voice fades away. I slowly make my way towards my dock and sit at the edge of it. I point my toes so every time I kick my feet, they get wet. The wind really is nice and the smell of rain fills my nostrils. This storm is going to be huge. 

If I really wanted to, I probably could swim. It's just that I don't want to. It's not like I'm physically incapable of swimming. My father and Jean both taught me, I know how to swim. Sometimes my mentality or brain or something doesn't allow me to. Why do I feel bad right now? I feel like I'm letting someone down. Am I letting myself down? I look out into the water, that greenish, mysterious water. I can't wait for the rain to finally start, so this filthy water can get flushed out by some cleaner water. The sea life will be happy when their freshwater looks fresh again. I kind of envy the sea life. They are free to go where the waves take them and I'm stuck here. It's strange to think that two worlds that exist together, the sea and land, they can never switch worlds because one cannot live without water and the other cannot live without oxygen. One day, maybe in the future there will be a creature with human intelligence that can live in both worlds, something like a mermaid. 

I see a red object floating near by. I can't make out what it is until a wave brings it closer. It's my dad's pot. I stand to my feet so quickly that my head feels empty. My eyes briefly roll to the back of my head.

I can swim. If I wanted to. All I have to do is shut off that part of my brain, that one part of my brain that is traumatized, the part of my brain that is afraid. If I can turn that off then sure I can swim.

I'll swim out to that pot, grab it, then swim back. I smile to myself. Tomorrow when I row on over to Jean's house he'll see this pot and know, he'll know that I did it. He'll know that I was able to put my fear beneath me. Then as high as he holds his head up, I'll hold mine. That pot, that red pot will be my trophy. 

With a deep breath and shaky limbs, I sit back down on the dock and gently slide into the water. I didn't want to just canon-ball in here, that would've been a mistake. My feet are barely on the sand and the water is at my nose. I have to hold my face up towards the grey sky so I can breath. I let myself drift out until my feet can no longer feel the sand.

My feet can no longer feel the sand.

The sand. Where is the sand?

Where is the sand!

I panic. I turn around, squinting my eyes in the dark of the storm ridden night. The dock is so far away. I must be floating away into the current. I turn around towards the pot and the pot is much further than I thought. This current is strong, I underestimated it. I had only been in the shallow part of the water with my father and Jean. Why did I do this? There's no one out here to help me when I freak out. I'm going to freak out. I'm going to stiffen up and die here. No. No I'm not. My inability to swim is because of these thoughts. It's all in my head. 

I just have to swim.

I feel like I'm suffocating. I gasp for oxygen holding my face above the water. I want to cry. I want to cry! "Jean!" I shout. "Jean!" I shout again and my mouth fills with water. I try to spit the water out but I can't. I look for the pot, I can't see it. I look for the dock, I can't see it... And I can't breathe. I open my eyes and all I see is darkness. I can't breathe.

Darkness....

I can't breathe. My chest feels so heavy. 

Am I underwater? I can't tell.

Swim!

My fathers voice is in my head.

Don't give up. If you tense up you'll sink and drown. If you flail around you'll sink and drown. If you completely relax you'll float. If you swim you'll live.

If you swim you'll live....

I flap my arms once, as if I'm a bird and I paddle my feet. My nose decides to inhale... It inhales then my mouth opens and inhales, it's oxygen. I completely relax my body and just like my father said, I float. I float and float until my head hits something hard. It's the pot! When I grab it, the float wears off and I'm swallowed by the water once again. A wave comes in and fills the pot with water, making it heavier than I can handle at this point in time.

If you swim you live.

I circulate both of my arms furiously. I've lost the pot but I don't want to lose my life, not over something like this. Heh, I can just picture Jean laughing at my fight for survival. This is how Jean teaches me. He said my body will learn how to swim before it let's me drown so he leaves me in the middle of the lake while he rides beside me on a boat. About a minute in, each time I begin to drown. Then he'll jump in after me and make fun of me on the way to shore. This is the longest I've lasted. I stop paddling and I have a look around. The dock is still far but considerably closer. At least I can see now and I know where it is.

As soon as I think the previous statement, rain begins to fall. Light at first, heavy in seconds. I can't handle it. I can't see anything. I'm scared. "Jean!" I shout. I'm so short of breath. "Je-" I'm cut off by water filling my mouth.

Then I just... Give up. I let my tense body sink down into the lake, lower and lower. Ha, on the bright side atleast there aren't any fish. I hate fish. I let my eyes flutter open and there's a light source in the water. A long tail swims past me. I swear I just saw a scaly tail pass my- whatever. How logical is that anyway? All the fish left earlier when they sensed there was going to be a storm. Like Jean said.

Am I dying?

I close my eyes, I can't hold my breath much longer. In a moment my lungs will be filling with water. Sorry Jean. I hope you aren't too lonely. Please, be friendly with the new neighbors. Dad I'm so sorry. I wonder how loud people would laugh if they knew I died for a pot. 

I feel as though I'm in a dream like state. Warm hands wrap around my arms, soothingly. Gently. They begin to raise me up, they effortlessly raise me.

Where are you hands taking me? Are you the hands of an angel? Am I going to heaven?

I feel a soft kiss on my lips and I assume I've ascended.

 

There's a soft hum in my head and my eyes flutter open. It stings. The sun is out? I didn't die? I sit up and try to open my eyes again, after some adjusting I can see that it's morning. The water is calm and it's a nice bluish-clear color. How on earth did I survive that? Like really? I drowned. My throat burns really badly. I get a glimpse of that tail swimming past me while I was submerged in water, submerged in darkness, and it almost gives me an anxiety attack. Darkness will always remind me of that mistake I made as a child. That was so scary. How on earth did I survive that?

I look to the left of me down on the ground at the sand and there's a few washed up fish bodies- disgusting. I look to my right and there's a- holy crap there's a person!

I get on my knees and crawl to him. It's a nude man laying face down. I can tell it's a man by the extremely toned back. He must have been a sailor. "Excuse me?" I ask. I lightly touch his back. There's no response. I blush as I flip him over to lay on his back. His lips parted slightly, his shiny black hair a mess, what happened to him? Why is he naked? I look down over his stomach and notice he's breathing really deeply. His abdominals cave in, push out slightly, then cave in again. I blush as I look over the line of his body down to his legs. They look sunburned, badly sunburned. I lightly slap him on the face a few times. "Mr. Are you okay?" I ask.

I stand to my feet. What am I supposed to do? This is such an odd situation. I've never seen this guy before. I look around and on the sand I see my red pot. What the heck?

I run over to it. I should probably get this man out of the sun but looking at his muscle mass, I probably wouldn't be able to carry him. I need to get him conscious. I run the pot over to the shore and fill it with water, then I run it back over to him. I sit down by his head and lift it onto my lap. I place a side of the pot up to his parted lips and pour some water into his mouth. He coughs and the water comes back up.

"S-sorry." I whisper, looking down at his face. He looks nice, his features are very exotic and his skin is very fair.

His eyelids flit and then open. Grey eyes. They look just like the storm. His mouth curls into a little smile and his arms shakily wrap around the back of my neck. He's strong, even though he seems so weak. He brings my face down to his and kisses me softly on the lips... It feels nice.


	2. Chapter 2

He tries to kiss me again and I smile and gently reject.

"Okay. Let's get you up on your feet." I say.

"Feet?" He repeats with a frown. I like the sound of his voice. It's very soothing.

"Mhm." I nod with a huge smile.

He looks down towards his legs and his eyes widen. He seems to be in complete alarm and his breathing deepens.

"Yeah sunburn. That probably hurts a lot. My house is right there, if you can stand up you can come inside and I'll get you something to drink. Maybe I have some cream somewhere for your legs." I explain.

He sits up and I blush. I feel so warm even though I'm so cold and wet. He looks up into my eyes with confusion. I snicker softly. "Legs?" He asks. "Cream?" He asks.

I nod. "Yes. My father gets sunburned pretty easily so I'm sure there's some in my house. Also you can borrow some of his clothes." I say. I wonder if we naturally speak the same language or not because the way he's looking at me makes me seriously doubt it. I stand in front of him and reach for his hands. He looks at me for a moment. "Give me your hands." I say.

"These... Are... Hands?" He asks. Deep in thought, he looks as he surveys the fronts and backs of his hands.

"Yes." I say and I grab them, pulling him to his feet. He's shorter than me. I hesitantly wrap my arm around his midsection. "Is it okay if I..." I say flattening my fingers against his washboard abs. I instinctively count the rectangles of muscle. There's eight creamy-white, dense.... I slowly look away from his stomach to his face and he's looking at me. "Oh sorry... I was just uh-" I can feel my face heating up.

"These are legs?" He asks lifting his knee.

I nod with a natural smile. "What did you call them in your language?" I ask. He ignores me so I clear my throat and ask again, louder.

"Legs." He replies simply.

I help him walk into my house and sit him down at my kitchen table. "Sorry it's kind of a mess in here. I was supposed to clean last night but I was too busy almost dying." I say and then I laugh awkwardly at my own joke.

He laughs a small, cute, giggle and it makes my face heat up. He takes a look around my kitchen and he frowns when he sees the tv. "What's that?" He asks.

"Oh. I was supposed to turn that off. That's a television. It's for entertainment." I say. I go through my cabinet under the sink to look for some cream.

"Entertainment." He says.

 I briefly look up at him and his eyes are fixed on the tv. "Heh, if that stays on for like three more hours it'll shut off and it won't turn back on for a few days. That's why my dad always told me to make sure I turned it off when I was done using- Ah found it!" I say holding up the tube of cream. I run to my living room, almost slipping on the floor because of the water dripping off of me, and I dig in the fresh laundry basket looking for a small face towel. When I find it I slowly walk back into the kitchen, careful so I don't slip, and he's still attracted to the tv. I wet the towel with warm water from the sink and I walk in front of his naked figure sitting on my chair. I can feel my face turning red as I squat in front of him.

"I'm going to wipe the sand and stuff off of your legs with this towel. Since you're burned pretty badly, this might hurt. I'll be gentle." I explain.

"Okay." He says.

As soon as I put the towel on his leg he moans in appreciation. My face feels hotter but I continue to wipe the salt and sand off of his legs, stopping mid thigh. In just seconds his legs look way better. They aren't red, they aren't wrinkly, and they don't look so dried out anymore. Something like a slippery lubricant appears on his legs and I touch it with my fingers. It feels like bleach or slime or something. I've never been sunburned before so it makes me wonder if that's what is supposed to happen. "Does it feel better?" I ask looking up at him. "Because it looks better."

He looks down at me and I hold my breath. "Yes." He says. I smile. It sounds like he's unsure of everything he says. Where is this guy from?

"Are you native here?" I ask.

"We live in... Different worlds." He struggles.

"What do you mean? Did you come from a third world country?" I ask.

"I don't understand." He says.

He's a scatterbrain like Jean I guess. Jean? Jean. It's my turn to go to his house. "Look, I'm Eren. What's your name?" I ask standing to my feet.

"You are Eren?" He asks.

"Yes. Who are you?" I ask.

"I am £€£•*_¥." He says. I frown down at him. All he said were a bunch of screeches and grunts. "Translates to Levi in your language." He says.

I nod and hand him the cream. "Okay Levi. It was nice meeting you. I can see that you're in the middle of a show. I insist that you finish watching it. I have to go." I say. He looks up at me with complete confusion. I sigh. "Eren thinks it was good meeting Levi." I say pointing at myself then at him. I speak very slowly. "Finish watch tv if you want-" he surprises me by standing up.

"Don't go." He says. "Don't.. Go." He repeats. He grabs my hands. "I love you." He says.

"Awwe. I don't think you know what you are saying. Please while I'm gone, you should watch more tv, learn more of this language-" I say shaking my hands loose. I smile down at him reassuringly. 

"Where will Eren go?" He asks.

I open the front door and he follows me to it. "You see?" I say pointing across the lake. "I'm just going to be over there for a few hours." I explain.

"Can I come?" He asks frowning up at me. Poor thing. Really who is this guy?

"Not this time. Oh in the living room behind that door is a closet. My father has clothes in there. You should borrow some." I say pointing and gesturing. He still looks confused.

I sigh heavily and sit him back down in his chair. "Eren. You are wet." He says.

"Oh yeah! Thanks for reminding me." I say.

"In the living room behind that door is a closet." He says pointing and smiling.

I smile back at him and run upstairs. Everything's sticking to me, my shirt, my shorts, my underwear. When I take off my shorts I look up and Levi's standing at my door way. I give him a quick smirk. "Do you live near here?" I ask sliding on another shirt. He doesn't answer me. "You don't talk much." I add. 

"Eren. Wet..." He says and he begins to think for a moment. "Bath." He says with a smile.

"You want to take a bath?" I ask as I quickly remove my underwear and change into a new pair.

"Yes." He says.

"Okay, hold on." I say. I finish changing my clothes and I show him to the bathroom. I plug the tub and run lukewarm water inside. "It shouldn't be too hot. Don't want to irritate your skin." I say. I look at his leg and it looks perfectly fine like he hadn't ever had sunburn. I look into his eyes as I reach my hand forward to touch his leg, his shiny leg, and it's slimy. Everything underneath his waistline is slimy. "Yeah you really need a bath. Do you have any family or relatives?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No." He adds.

"Oh. I'm sorry." I say.

"Do you have family?" He asks.

"Yeah um my mom and dad are far away though. My dad will be back in a month." I say.

"What about your mom?" He asks. "Is she dead?"

I laugh off the weird question. I feel really offended somehow, but I know this creature doesn't know any better. "No, but she's really sick." I say.

Levi nods and then puts a foot in the water. He adds his other foot and sits down. He sighs in content, melting into the water.

"How is it?" I ask.

"Thank you." He says with his eyes closed. He looks nice with his body submerged in water, he looks natural. He seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit too. 

I nod and leave the room.

When I hop into my dinghy I feel really good for some reason. I have a new friend, and that doesn't happen often. Ever since I moved here, and ever since I've been home schooling, Jean was my only friend. I've got the red pot right next to me so I can tell Jean what happened last night and have proof. I probably should've brought Levi along for more evidence. What did he say his name in his language was? £¥£*€£_? I chuckle softly to myself. He needs to learn my language better so I can ask him questions and he can answer properly. I wonder how long he'll stay with me.

When I get to Jean's house his mother already has breakfast ready. We eat it and laugh and talk together then Jean and I go outside.

"Wait here." I say as I run to the boat to grab the pot. I hide it behind my back as I approach him. "Look." I say putting it in his face. "Look at this!" 

"Woa! Did you-"

"I did. But I almost died getting it. And I'm not sure how I got to shore. And when I woke up there was a strange naked man-" I start before I'm cut off by Jean.

"Eren. Someone was murdered last night and the water patrol men found the body here. Down at the ocean where this lake let's out he was snatched from his fishing boat, attacked, killed, then brought here. They questioned only my mom and I last night. Look." Jean says handing me a pair of pocket sized binoculars.

"Why did you just ignore me?" I ask.

"Well this is more important." He says gesturing for me to look towards the new neighbors house. I almost drop them when I look because our new neighbor is sitting on his porch and it looks like he's watching me. It looks like he's looking at me through the binoculars. "His name is Rod. He's supposed to be some kind of licensed hunter so he's got a few guns. If you ask me, he's the only suspicious one here. I heard he's looking for something too. The fisherman probably got too close to finding whatever it was and Rod didn't want no-" 

I cut Jean off. "That doesn't even make sense." I say. "He's just creepy that's all." I explain. "Being creepy ain't no crime." I say in a southern accent.

"Hey! That's how he talks. He's a hick, him and his daughters." Jean says. "So anyway, you ready to swim?" He asks.

I push the pot into his chest, waiting for him to wrap his hands around it. "I'm never going in water again unless it's to row to get to your house." I explain.

"So you almost died?" Jean asks throwing the pot onto the sand.

"Yeah." I say walking towards his dock. I sit at the edge. I love his dock because it's much lower than mine so my feet are actually submerged in the water. Water is fine when it's like this, when it's calm and only on my feet. Something swims across my foot and I immediately get my feet out of the water.

"Guess the fish are back." Jean says with a laugh. He finds my disgust of fish humorous. 

"While I was drowning I had this dream that some marine angel or something helped me to shore." I say with a frown.

"Okay, Prince Eric. Ariel came to your rescue?" He asks sarcastically. 

"No like it was weird. I thought I was ascending to heaven but I woke up on the shore." I say.

"So you mistook the current of a storm for ascending to heaven?" Jean says. "And who the hell tries to swim during a storm?" He asks. He has a good point there. 

"I-I don't know. I wanted to show off to you and stuff. I wanted to rub it in your smug little face that I could swim, I'm just selective and picky about when I will swim." I say folding my arms over my chest. 

"I don't think that's true. You either can or cannot swim." Jean says. He takes a seat next to me and I don't know what to do. I can't make him understand.

When it starts to get dark I get ready to leave. "Jean I have someone for you to meet when you come over tomorrow." I say as I remember Levi. 

"The neighbors?" He asks. "Because those people without a doubt had police boats shining lights in the water. It's all his fault. I'm sure he killed that fisherman." Jean says. "I want nothing to do with them." He says.

I giggle. "It's not one of them." I say.

"Why are you so giddy?" He asks and I shrug. "Did you meet a girl from a cruise or something? Is she pretty?" He asks with excitement.

"N-no it's nothing like that." I say slowly climbing into my boat. I untie the rope keeping it secured at his dock and begin to float away.

"Okay. Oh I might be over tonight. My mom's probably going to cook you dinner." Jean nods at me as I grab my oars and start on home.

I jump out of my boat, secure it, then quickly run through the shallow water. I don't want anything to slither past my foot or anything but of course, a fish slides across the top of my foot.

I run into my house, afraid I left him alone for too long, Levi. "Levi?" I call as I walk into the kitchen. He isn't in the chair. He isn't even in the kitchen. Aww, he turned the tv off for me. As I turn a corner I quickly fall on my butt. There's water all over the floor. A wide trail of it leads to the front door. I get up and decide to follow it. What had he been doing while I was gone? I follow the water down my stairs and then follow the drag marks on the sand. What did he drag out here? Was it something of mine? Where is he?

The trail stops at the lake and so do I.

I decide to just shrug it off.

After cleaning the mess on the floor I just sit outside on the dock waiting for Jean. I'm starving and lonely. Not lonely as in I need to hang out with Jean, but lonely as in I need someone to talk to. I need to talk to someone that I know will listen. I need a strange, foreign, muscular, naked man named Levi. I sigh as I think about him. When I talked he listen and he gave me eye contact. He hung on to every last word I said. 

Didn't he also say he loved me....

I point my toes and kick my feet back and forth. When the daylight fades and is replaced by Luna my eyelids start to feel heavy. Drowsiness overcomes me and I'm nodding off to sleep.

When the golden sun wakes me in the morning I feel horrible. I feel heavy as I sit up. Why am I outside? Why am I wet? My clothes are soaking wet. I woke up wrapped in my fathers thin blanket he uses for his feet sometimes but mostly keeps it folded on the self in the closet. My lips tingle and my throat hurts. What the hell happened? Last night I was waiting for Jean and I was so tired. Did I fall asleep, then literally fall into the water? How am I still alive? I look towards my house and the door is wide open. I use my hands as binoculars towards Jean's house and I can see that he's climbing into his boat with a plate, probably breakfast his mother cooked for me. I look over to the new neighbors house and Rod is staring towards my house. I can't tell from this distance what it is exactly that he's looking at. He's standing close to the water, or in it with a rifle pointing downward. Is he really fishing with a gun?

I would offer him my father's fishing rods but I'd rather not go there by myself. Not after what Jean said.

I carefully walk around in my house. Why is there water all over the floor? Dashing up the stairs, I hurriedly get changed and I meet Jean at the dock.

"My mom isn't feeling too good lately. Sorry she didn't make you dinner last night." He says handing me the plate. "I'm so worried for her. Eren are you okay?" Jean asks looking at me.

I shiver a little and I notice that my lips are trembling. The cold is inside of my skin and I know goosebumps paint my arms and legs. The hairs at the back of my neck stand erect as a chill over takes my body. "I'm okay. I'm fine why?" I ask. I gently rub my arms trying to generate some heat and trying to rid my skin of the goosebumps.

"It's 50 degrees today, what's your problem. You look cold. And your lips are turning blue." He says. A look of actual concern washes over his face and I slowly start to walk back into my house.

I sit the food on the table then sit there myself. He sits across from me and stares at me like I've lost my mind. "What?" I ask and it's followed by a torrent of sneezing.

"I think you're getting a cold." He says shaking his head. "It might get a little lonely because I have to take care of my mom. I might only come over like once a week." Jean explains. My heart sinks a little. Levi's gone, Jean's leaving, I'll be all alone.

"It's okay. Take care of your mom Jean. I wish I could do the same for my mom." Jean averts his eyes the way he always does when I bring up my mom. I don't know why he's so awkward about hearing about my sick mother, she hasn't died yet so it shouldn't kill the mood.

"Look, I have to go. I might be back here like Tuesday." He says standing up and leaving.

I eat his mother's cooking then I decide to end the night like last night, without the falling in the water part. I just watch the sky turn from light grey to darker grey, completely lonely.

I look out at the water and I see a figure in it. My eyes squint and I notice that's a person. It's Levi. I quickly stand to my feet. "Levi!" I shout. I wave him over, flicking my wrist towards myself, signaling him to come. "Come here!" I yell. "Come here!"

He swims close to the dock.

"Eren." He says. Ahhhh his voice is so nice. It's so distinct.

"Levi, I've missed you." I say. I sit down with my feet hanging over the edge of the dock. I can see him better this way. "Come closer." I say quietly. His face is wet, his hair is wet, he's soaking wet. He swims a little bit closer. "More." I say.

"Eren, I missed you too." He says. His speaking has gotten so much better.

"Come more." I say and swims until he's at my legs. His hands wrap around my ankles. "Don't pull me in!" I shriek. His wet hands move up my legs more and more until they're at the tops of my knees. He uses my legs to hoist himself out of the water and he wraps his arms around my neck and kisses my lips softly. He let's go, leaving my face sort of wet, and slides back into the water.

Everything happened so quickly.

"Levi?" I ask looking down into the water. I can't see anything. "Levi?" I call again. His head pops up several yards away from the dock and he's wearing a small smirk. "No, no! Levi come back. I want to talk with you." I say desperately.

"I love you," he says swimming away. "I love you Eren." I hear. His voice is very distant and I can't see him anymore. I can't even hear the splashing of the water.

I feel like crying, I want to cry badly. I'm all alone. Just as I'm about to stand up I'm yanked into the water by my ankles. Water gets into my mouth, eyes, and nose as I'm sped through the water. Who can swim this fast? I'm softly laid on the soft sand and I feel a crushing weight on top of me. "I love you." Says a familiar voice and another soft kiss is planted on my lips. After I cough up some water and rub my eyes, I sit up and I'm alone on the sand. The smile that I'm wearing is large and I can't surpress the heat that builds inside of my body. My body and clothes are wet and cold but I'm extremely hot on the inside. Why does he say that to me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys like this. I kinda just thought of a plot and went with it  
> How do you feel about this story?


	3. Chapter 3

I walk around outside in the crack of dawn. Last night, where did Levi go? Where could he have possible swam? Is there a cruise ship nearby? No, that doesn't even make sense.

I walk along the legnth of my dock and I'm surprised when a motorized boat with a flashing light on the top, comes speeding by. There's a big lamp on the nose of the boat used for searching water. I'm confused. What are these guys doing here?

 They pull up to my port, secure their boat, and approach me. "Hello?" I say wrapping my robe around me more tightly.

"Hello. You're the Jaeger son aren't you?" One of the men in uniform ask.

"U-um, yes." I say.

"Well we don't want to alarm you but we've found two bodies in the last couple of days. One in this lake and another pretty close to it. Have you seen anything... Eh unusual?" He asks me with his hands on his hips.

"Unusual? No." I say. I wasn't going to bring up the fact that Rod Reiss was completely creepy. You can't suspect someone for murder just because they are creepy.

"Where were you the last couple of days? And that storm...Anything weird happen?" The same man asks.

"Um... No?" I say unsurely. It's not like I could tell him I jumped into the water during a storm and almost died. It's not appropriate to bring up waking up next to a naked man either. Levi... I miss him.

He stares at me in disbelief. I look into the face of the other guy and he looks suspicious to. I don't want them to suspect me of any wrongdoing but there is some business that is only mine. There's things that I have a right to not share. "Where's your dad?" He asks.

"Oh, meeting-"

"Oh that's right, that scientist crap." The deputies laugh with each other. "Well if you see anything weird make sure you tell us. We'll probably be back through here in a couple of days." He says turning around. "One more thing, boy. I want you to know that you can trust us. Any new information, anything weird you see just tell us, deputy Erwin," he says pointing at himself. "And deputy Mike." He says pointing at the taller man.

"Will do, sir." I say nodding my head in assurance.

"However trivial you think something is, you see a three legged ant tell us. If you see an octopus with fourteen tentacles, or a mermaid, anything odd you come straight to us." Deputy Erwin says.

"Hahahaha." I chuckle. Are they being serious? I'm pretty sure that was a joke. "Okay." I reply.

When they drive off I remember how alone I actually am. I sigh as I walk back into my house and shower. In the shower I think about Rod. Rod is a man who on the outside looks pretty creepy but I'm sure there's nothing to him. He's just a country hick. A loud clatter comes from downstairs and I breifly stop the water. "Hello? Jean?" I call. I wait about twelve seconds and when I can't hear anything else I resume the water.

When I finish washing up, I put on fresh clothes and head downstairs. Something feels odd. Like, it's a strange feeling. There's someone in my house. Walking on the tip of my toes I turn around the staircase and look into my living room. The couch is clean, the floor is clean... I open my father's closet. 

The darkness is scary. I haven't always been afraid of the dark.

When I was eight, I was playing in a swimming pool and my mother was watching me. I kept calling her so she would see me, I wanted her to notice and interact with me. I wanted her full attention. I decided I would play a deadly game, something that would no doubt catch my mother's attention. I held on to the pools edge as if I was climbing out of the water, but I didn't climb out. I wish I had. I held on to the edge so it could hold me up when I went to the deep edge. I was like four feet. When I reached the eight foot section, I called out to my mother. "Look at me." Is that what I said. The amount of horror on her face still burns in my memory. "Eren!" She screamed as she rose to her feet. I was so happy that she finally looked at me and I returned her gaze with a wide smile. Her open-mouthed expression of shock turned into a frown and I knew something was very wrong. She clutched onto her shirt over her heart and collapsed. In that moment I let go of the edge of the pool in shock and I began to fall. I fell into the darkness, where nothing could save me. There was no hope, there was nothing I could do but allow the darkness to swallow me.

I shut the closet door in a hurry. My eyes nearly fall out of my head when I walk into the kitchen. I see Levi on my floor in a puddle of water. He's naked and there's salt everywhere on the floor.

"Levi?" I ask walking over to him. He smiles up at me. His strong arms bend beneath him as he tries to stand to his feet. "Hold on." I say with a giggle. I stoop over to help him up, grabbing his arm. It's too much weight for my nonathletic arms to handle, Jean probably could have helped him up. Levi's arms were like a professional body builders. Instead of picking him up, my feet slip in the water and I end up under him on the wet floor. The water from the floor soaks into the backs of my clothes. Levi's warm breath blows over my face as he just stares at me laying under his completely bare form. What if someone walked in at this point? That would pretty odd. I can feel all of the blood in my cheeks.

"Hello." He whispers.He slowly crawls off of me, standing to his feet and helping me up.

"Hello Levi." I say awkwardly standing in my wet, salty clothes.

"I missed you." He murmurs softly.

"I missed you too." I say with a weird smile. Why do I feel so shy all of a sudden? I wipe sweat from my forehead, I'm not even hot, why am I sweating so much? It's that thick nervous sweat that raises your entire body temperature. He approaches me, his body all wet, muscles defined and I nervously back into the table. He traps me against the table with his body and I try to act as natural as possible, just backing the only thing i could away, my head. He flattens his palms on the table and looks up into my face with a very pretty, very toothy smile. "U-um do you want to come with me to meet some neighbors?" I ask. "There's this house, with these um people... Rod..." I say. His face moves closer to mine and I imagine he's on the tips of his toes. My speech gets muddled. "Rod Reiss, He-he has these daughters-" Levi cuts me off.

"Kiss me." Levi says quietly, almost too quiet to hear.

"H-huh?" I shout.

"Do it. Kiss me." He says. "Are you scared?" He asks. "You scared of me?" He asks.

"N-no!" I yell. I close my eyes tightly as he brings his face close to mine. he chuckles softly then I feel cold as the warmth of his body is gone.

"Don't you love me, Eren?" He asks.

I stand in silence, the water in my clothes chilling my body. "Do you want to come with me?" I ask.

"Are you mad at me, I'm sorry." Levi says.

I take a deep breath, cooling myself off with the fanning of my hand. "No, you're fine. I'm sorry. Are you coming?" I ask. "We both need to get clothes of course. How are your legs?" I ask refusing to look down at them in fear of staring at his male pride.

"Do I disgust you?" He asks with a face that I can't read. Disappointment?

"No no, it's just weird." I say waving my hands frantically. I didn't mean to offend him. He and Jean are all I have until my dad comes back.

"Weird? What's just weird?" He asks. His eyebrows turn and he takes a step closer to me.

"Well we're both men and-" I start. Levi's warm hand wraps around my neck and he pulls my head down and kisses me.

I snatch my head back. "Geez, cut that out." I say covering my mouth with the back of my hand. My heart rate has increased and even though I live by the lake, and it's always cold here, even though I'm soaking wet from my heels to the back of my head, I feel like I've been set on fire. Everything is heating up. I close my eyes tightly.

"Love has nothing to do with gender. Do you hate it?" He asks.

"No. It's not that." I explain, because really it isn't that.

"Then what is it? Do you like it?" He asks.

My eyes widen and my lips can't stop trembling. I can't seem to form words.

"I need a bath. I can go right?" He asks. I nod slowly.

At first I thought the kisses and the "I love you's" were weird, but now how do I feel about it?

I lower my eyes as he walks past me and heads to the stairs. I was going to follow him, but then I remembered that he's naked and I don't want his rear in my face. After about ten minutes I run up the stairs and change my clothes.

When I'm done I wonder about Levi so I walk to the closed bathroom door. Putting my ear up to the door, I listen in. I hear periodic splashing and quiet humming. "Hahahaha! I love Eren so much!" He says. My cheeks feel hot. "Eren?" Levi asks through the door.

I jump back and nervously start stuttering. "U-um yes?" I ask.

"Did you want something?" Levi inquires. His tone sounds so delighted  like he's having the time of his life in that tub.

"Uh, no I..." The common instinct to meet someone's eye when I speak comes over me and I slowly twist the knob.

"Wait! Don't come in!" Levi says frantically. I hear a loud splash and a thud. It alarms me.

"I-I'm coming in." I say. "Are you okay?" I ask.

"No!" Levi shouts.

"No you're not okay?" I ask. I crack the door open.

"No! No, you can't come in here!" Levi shouts. That's it. I throw the door open and take a long look at the odd sight in front of me.

Levi's sitting on the floor in a small ocean of water, frantically rubbing salt on his legs.

"Where'd you get my salt?" I ask. "And what are you doing?" I ask in utter confusion.

"Oh, hi." Levi says waving at me with his salty hand.

"Do you need some help?" I ask with a pathetic look.

 

Levi and I walk to the dinghy. I can't stop looking at him. He looks so different when he's wearing clothes. I look at his lips as he climbs into the boat. His lips are always soft when he kisses me and I like the shape they make when he says he loves me.

"Eren, I love you." Levi says. It's as if he's read my mind. He hangs his head back towards me with a smirk before he takes his seat.

"You still don't know what that means do you?" I ask rhetorically. He smiles at me sweetly as I join him in the dinghy. "With how strongly you swim, you could pull this boat to that side of the lake." I chuckle. "Your nice big muscles hahaha-"

"These muscles aren't just good for swimming." Levi says giving me a strange look. My stomach feels weird. I don't know if what he just said was sexual or not but it had that connotation.

I laugh a nervous laugh and pick up the oars. Rowing is kind of hard today and Levi's staring eyes aren't helping. A fire burns through my body everywhere his eyes look. Why is he staring at me with that stupid smile? I look at his eyes as I row and he's staring at my lips. I naturally lick my lips and Levi copies me. His eyes flick from my lips to my eyes and we stare at each other for half a second. I can't describe the feeling that it emits but it's strong enough to make me drop one of the oars in the lake.

"Ahh, crap!" I shout as I lean over desperately. The whole dinghy rocks and Levi leaps to grab my foot. I barely grasp the oar and sit back upright in the boat across from Levi. "Thank you." I say quietly.

"Don't thank me for anything. I'd do anything for you." He says and his cheeks tint pink.

"Because you love me?" I ask with a snort.

"Exactly." He says. He leans forward and his hands land on my knees then move further up my thighs. He leans closer and moves his hands down my forearms, to my working hands. When his face is really close to mine there's this odd nostalgic atmosphere. It's like everything has taken on a color, even the oxygen he and I are breathing together. I can hear my own heart beat and as his face becomes closer I close my eyes and lean forward, outing my lips slightly.

"Heh- I'll take over." Levi says grabbing the oars from my hands. I wait for about five more seconds before I open an eye to find Levi with the widest smile quickly rowing to Rod's house. He shakes his head as I quickly sit back up in complete embarrassment. Was I just going to...

"Levi, we're friends right?" I ask.

He frowns at the random question. "Is that all?" He remarks with a snort. His smile is contagious.

"You'll be there for me if I depended on you?" I ask.

"Oh poor Eren. You live alone don't you? That or your father isn't around often. Don't worry. I'd never leave you lonely, not for longer than you can handle. Whenever I'm gone I just want you to know I'm always closer than you think. I'll always be here for you. You know why don't you?" Levi says blinking slowly.

I avert my eyes from him and try to hide my smile, moving my lips around.

He'll always be here for me. That will be a first.

Levi strongly and efficiently rows to Rod's port and his abdominals and biceps really have quite the work out. It usually takes me about twenty minutes to row but it only takes Levi ten.

When I hop out of the boat into the shallow water I roll up my jogging pants so they don't get too wet and I walk onto Rod's property. I turn around thinking Levi's right behind me but he isn't. He's still in the boat. I was supposed to greet them with my father but Levi, if he's going to be around and stuff now then he'll do.

"Levi, come on." I say. He looks at the water with wide eyes and I frown at him. "What's wrong?" I ask.

He looks down at the water and he shakes his head a few times. "I can't go in there." He says quietly.

"Wait, what?" I ask. "Come here. Get over here, Levi. Come here." I say loudly. "Come." I say again in a very persistent way.

"I'm not going in there Eren." He says.

My knees feel heavy as I carry Levi like a bride on wedding night.

"I'm so happy." Levi says and he has the dumbest smile on his lips.

"Why?" I ask looking forward. If I looked down Levi's face would be too close to mine.

"Because you're touching me." He says. I smile and bite my lip to hide it. "I like this." He says as I struggle to lift my feet in the shallow water. I make sure to keep my hand as far away from his butt as possible. When we get there, I gently put him down on the dry sand.

"What was that about?" I ask. I stretch my back.

Levi swallows his spit, putting his hands on his hips. He takes a deep breath and then looks me in the eye.


	4. Chapter 4

When Levi and I turn around Rod is right behind us. He looks angry. From behind his body he whips out his rifle and points it at Levi. I instinctively stand in front of him. What the hell is this crazy hick doing?

"Get him off of my property!" Rod yells.

"What are you doing?" I ask in a calm tone. I put my hands up and Levi pushes me behind himself, standing strongly face to face with the barrel of Rod's gun. "Please, Eren." Levi says. He puts his hands on his hips and makes this face, this face that just dares Rod to shoot him.

"Boy, take your friend and get off of my property." Rod says. "Get this monster away from my family." He says with his improper accent and tackled teeth.

"Hey! He's not a monster. He's nice and-and kind, and generous." I say.

"Listen, if you want to shoot me, go ahead." Levi says.  I grab onto his muscular upper arm. Rod can't shoot Levi.

"Levi? No!" I yell. Right now he's all I have. He's my only friend other than Jean who can't  even visit me. I won't lose him. I refuse. He promised to always be here for me.

"But then shooting me comes with a price. If you shoot me here, right now, I swear to you I'll use whatever resources I have, Whatever body strength I have remaining to wipe your entire family out. I mean wipe, them, out. You have two girls in there right? Shoot me and you should just shoot your daughters right after, because I promise I'll have them killed."  Levi says in a scary tone I've never heard from his voice. I mean, people react in various ways when their life is being threatened but I didn't know a person could do this, stand there calmly with his hands on his hips, threatening a man with a gun pointed to his head.

"Levi?" I ask.

"That's gone be pretty hard to do, ain't it? With a hole in your head." Rod says. He puts the barrel on Levi's forehead. I gasp and clutch onto Levi.

"The only problem I have with you shooting me is that I've sworn my loyalty to Eren and you see he likes the way I look now. I have to stay pretty for him. So if you don't shoot me here, I'll look after your family and I'll make sure nothing happens to you all." Levi says.

Rod's expression changes and he looks angry but I can tell he's thinking about it. He slowly lowers his gun. "With all the murders turning up, I'll need you watching over my daughters. I accept you monster."  Rod says and he stretches his hand out towards Levi. Levi smiles and happily shakes his hand.

"Sorry for the threat." He says with the tone that I'm familiar with.

"A man who can't intimidate ain't a real man. Maybe your more man than I thought." Rod says and I'm ridiculously confused.

We all take a seat on his porch, sitting Rod, closest to the door and take about the recent murders. It's then that I remember Rod is Jean's main suspect. I feel a little uncomfortable. I could be sitting by a murderer and Levi freaked me out too.

"...Fisherman. Yeah fisherman's ain't smart. Know what I tell em'? I tell em' don't go fishin' for trouble. They found them some trouble though." Rod says. He snickers loudly and then taps Levi on the chest signaling for him to laugh too. Levi gently laughs and I look over at him. When he looks back at me I blush and look away from him. He reaches over and grabs my head.

"What are you doing?" I ask resisting but he is far too strong. He pulls my head to rest on his upper thighs. I just lay on his lap and think about those two deputies. He softly strokes my back and I feel warm all around. My face is on his warm, now clothed thighs. His soft but strong hand is stroking warmnest into my entire body. I shiver and sniffle, laying in this position always makes my nose run.

"Two deputies uh, came to my house and they were asking all kinds of questions." I mumble. In this position I feel so good, so safe. The warmth that surrounds me, radiating from Levi's thighs is comfortable like a hug.

"What kinds of questions?" Rod asks.

"Things about that storm, things about like 14 legged ants or something, two headed octopus, mermaid, my father..." I start. I stop babbling when Rod and Levi both look at me, Levi hanging his head in front of my face. "What? They wanted a complete alibi on me and they interrogated my friend Jean who lives right across the river. Did they interrogate you yet?" I ask sitting up and giving Rod eye contact.

"No, they ain't got to me yet." Rod says shaking his head.

"What about you? Where do you live?" I ask looking at Levi. He stares back at me and his lips curl into a smile. He rocks his legs back and forth and settles an assuring hand on my knee, stroking it softly. I moan softly in appreciation, his hands feel so good.

"I live closer than you think." He says eventually. This time he lays on my lap and all my nerves are on edge. I feel my face turning red for what must be the eightieth time today. I look forward at the calm lake as I settle my hand on Levi's back and stroke, how he did mine. "Heh-" he laughs. "This is nice." He says and the cool air from the lake blows onto us.

"Eren, if you don't wanna get... Hurt I reckon you probably shouldn't poke your young nose where it don't belong. As an adult I advise you play with people your age." Rod says looking me in the eye.

When it gets dark Levi and I decide to leave. Levi gets into the dinghy and before I get in Rod pulls me away. "Imma say somethin' to em." He nods at Levi. We walk about four feet away and he wraps his arm around my neck and shoulder.

"I'm going to kill him." Rod says and I frown at him.

"What?" I say. "You two just agreed-"

"That was all bullshit boy. Don't you get any damn thing? He'll kill me the first chance he gets and I'll do the same to him. You shouldn't get involved with him until you know everything about him. Ask him where he lives, confirm that much and you might stand a chance against his spell." Rod says. "Yeah a man like that ain't no good. No good at all. You keep him away from this house. Oh and uh, when he least expects it try throwing some water on him, he'll probably like that. Things like that keep men happy after all." Rod says releasing me.

I slowly return to the boat with the smiling Levi and when I don't return his smile, his fades. "Uh, Eren. What was that about?" Levi asks in a partially dry tone.

"Nothing. It's nothing." I say. I look down at his- at my father's shoes. Anything is better than looking into his eyes because I know he's staring at me.

"Well what did Rod have to say?" He asks. I can tell he's trying to sound like he isn't desperate for this information. I'd rather not say anything because I just received a warning from a suspected murderer about a man who mysteriously just showed up during a storm. I don't know where he lives. I don't know where he came from. I don't know anything about him. I've put so much trust in someone I hardly know.

"Nothing." I reply with a hint of annoyance.

He thinks for a moment. "Eren, tomorrow I want to show and tell you everything about me. I don't know what Rod told you but yeah, I think this is the right thing to do." He says. "I want you to trust me." He says. His voice sounds so sincere.

I look into his eyes, pausing the rowing for just a moment, and smile.

When we get to my dock I tiredly stretch my arms. It's almost too dark outside. I help Levi out of the dinghy even though he clearly doesn't need it.

"Eren, I-" he starts. I press my fingers on his lips, cutting him off.

"Don't say it." I say with a blushing smile.

"You don't like it?" He asks after removing my fingers from his mouth.

"I d-" I stop myself with a loud sigh. "I wish you knew what you were saying." I say with a gentle laugh.

"But I do know. I know what it means to love someone. Eren, I love you." He snatches my captive wrist and with his other he pulls down my jaw. When our lips make contact I immediately feel a burst of heat. His hot wet lips on mine in the chilly night, his hand that was on my wrist, now around my lower back, and his tongue slowly making it's way inside of my mouth. His tongue acts shy, the way it dips into my mouth then retreats back into his own. I placd both of my hands onto Levi's strong back and deepen the kiss, letting my tongue explore the insides of his mouth for a bit.

When the kiss is broken I'm lightheaded and I almost fall over. We must have kissed for two minutes straight. I pant heavily as I take a step back from Levi.

"You're not out of breath?" I ask in confusion. I double over in a high squat, resting my hands on my knees and hanging my head down.

He chuckles. "Let's just say I don't need oxygen as bad as you do." He says and when I look back up at him he winks.

I feel heat in my stomach and in between my legs, it feels weird, it itches. I rub over my groin for a moment and I look up into Levi's eyes. His eyes flick from my hand to my eyes and he bites his lip.

"Where are going? It's pretty dark to go somewhere isn't it?" I ask. I was hinting so hard.

"I'm just going to go home." Levi says pointing in the direction of the water that eventually let's out to the ocean. So he must live far away.

"Home? Why don't you come in?" I offer and my face feels hot again.

"I-in?" Levi asks and his cheeks get sort of pink. "For what?" He asks.

I straddle Levi's laying figure, my bed complaining under the weight of both of us. I bend down to his face and capture his lips in a kiss. After that I rip my father's shirt open and the buttons fly everywhere, clanking onto the floor. I brace my palms against the skin of his chest. His muscles are so warm as I travel down his body. His abs feel great as I lightly smooth my fingers down to his belted pants.

"E-Eren?" Levi asks. His face is red.

I lower my face to suck on his lips some more and he surprises me by breaking it. "Your lips are so sweet." I say leaning in for more. He allows me one more long, rough, sloppy kiss before breaking it again with a loud smacking sound and a track of saliva connecting his tongue to my bottom lip. I then focus my attention to his belt.

"Eren, Eren stop." Levi moans. I unbutton his pants and reach inside of them. I grab ahold of his manly treasure and it feels slimy.

"So you're just as hot as me huh?" I ask with a smile.

"Eren stop!" Levi shouts. I release him and stare down at him. I frown.

"Levi are-"

"Eren can you trust me?" Levi asks. The question makes me frown harder.

"Y-yes?" I say. Of course I trusted him. I left him in my house alone. The fact that I'm taller than Levi is the only advantage I had when trying to get him to lay down under me. If I didn't trust him he wouldn't be under me right now.

"Okay. Do you love me?" He asks. He looks me deep in the eye.

"Uh, I-I... Levi I-" I stutter. I don't know what to say. He made me nervous, he made butterflies swarm my stomach, he made someone like me who doesn't get embarrassed, get so embarrassed. Yet at the same time he makes me so comfortable. I trust him completely, despite me knowing very little about him. He makes me so happy. I think about him a lot and everything he says replays in my head over and over. When he's around me I forget that I was ever lonely. What exactly... Do you call those feelings?

Levi slides from under me and sits up on the edge of my bed. He then stands up and walks over to slide his shoes on. I can't handle his back facing me.

"Levi?" I call.

He turns around with that smirk of his. "No half assed feelings the next time we try this.... And you have to know everything about me." He says. He stands to his feet and arranges his clothes. There's nothing he can do about his shirt though.

He smiles gently before walking out of my room. "Goodnight Eren." His voice echoes through the hall.

"Wait Levi, it's too dark. Where are you going?" I ask. "You said you'd never leave me alone." I whisper to myself. I sigh deeply and my spit feels thick. I won't start crying. I won't but the rejection feels awful.

I've never done something like that before, so why did I get the sudden urge to violate him? I got such a strong desire to violate him. Maybe I don't feel as different from him as I thought.

In the morning I feel so embarrassed and ashamed. Why had I done those things? More importantly why didn't I just tell him I love him? I could have. I think I really hurt his feelings.

When I walk downstairs into the kitchen I expect to see Levi but he's not there. He's not there, but the water and salt there on the floor are leaving perminant stains. The tv is on too which means Levi watched tv down here before he left. On the table are my father's clothes, folded nicely. What does this mean? Is he gone for good?

I hear a loud knock on the door and it makes my heart race. He's back. I snatch open the door and look up at the males face. Yes, I look up. It's not Levi it's Jean. I sigh in disappointment.

"Woa! That's not the kind of reaction I was hoping for." Jean says jokingly.

"No um it's nothing. I'm happy to see you." I say trying to smile.

"So I heard you went over to Rod's house." Jean says and his face changes. His eyebrows draw together. "Were you going to tell me?" He asks. "I'm your friend, I warned you about him." He adds. He sounds angry.

"You did." I say.

"What? Why would you go there alone?" He shouts. He roughly grabs my shoulders.

"Alone? I wasn't alone." I explain.

"Who the hell else went with you? Is your father back?" He says shaking me.

"No, I have a friend, a new friend." I say and Jean's eyes widen.

"Your friend, is he from around here? Does he have black hair? Is he short?" He asks shaking me up.

"Stop!" I shout.

"Is he Eren? Tell me! This is important. Is he muscular?" He asks calmly as he releases me.

How does he know Levi?


	5. Chapter 5

"Well I don't know the man." Jean says walking out to my dock.

"That was a pretty spot on description." I say. "He's the man I was trying to tell you about when I drowned during the storm."

"Oh! I saw him swimming around before the storm. I warned him about the upcoming storm and he gave me a nasty attitude." Jean says sitting with his feet hanging over the dock. I copy him and he's suddenly jumps into the water. It was the strangest jump I've ever seen. It was almost like he fell in with 600 pound weights around his ankles. I lean close to the water as I wait for him to resurface.

I frown as I find myself waiting longer and longer, leaning closer and closer to the lake.

"Eren!" Jean screams in a code red voice as his head and upper body shoots out of the water. Back in he goes and the water seems unsettled. I ready my hand for when he surfaces again, just waiting there in complete confusion until suddenly he does appear and I grab his hand and help him back onto the dock.

"Hurry! Hurry!" He begs as I desperately pull his limb.

He breathes deeply as he lays in the fetal position on the wood of the dock. "Woa, woa! Almost drowned I see. Maybe you'll lighten up on me now Mr. Perfect Swimmer." I say sassily.

 He sits up straight. "Eren, there's something in that water. There's something in there. It tried to kill me." Jean says.

"Weren't you the one who said there were no sharks or alligators in-"

"I said that about salmon." He says. "What's down there.. I don't think it's an alligator or shark. It's something weirder. I swear I felt a hand wrap around my ankle." He says seriously. I begin to laugh, stopping when I realize he isn't joking.

"I wonder what fish dwells in the water with hands." I joke.

"So do I." Jean says seriously. He just doesn't understand jokes.

 

I don't see Levi or Jean for the next week. Jean's too afraid to touch the water, I had to row him back to his house and Levi, who knows where he is. The entire week I'm lonely and forced to be alone with myself, with my thoughts. I hate it! I hate this feeling! I hate being alone so much. Father, hurry back.

I look out of my window late in the afternoons thinking about Levi. This afternoon while I think about him the low storm clouds remind me of his eyes. His eyes are his best feature, well they are my favorite anyway.

I sigh loudly and head to bed. This crappy weather really fits my mood. I really need someone to talk to. I walk up my stairs and change for bed. This is my favorite part of the day, sleeping. It's the only time where I have peace and Levi and I are together in my dreams. So I ready myself to meet Levi again, the loud rain lulling me to sleep, the comfort, everything is perfect. My brain is trying to make me remember something. It's unconsciously trying to tell me something important. Did I forget something? Did I not lock the house door? No, this isn't one of those bad scary movies where the..... Oh! I left the tv on. It won't work tomorrow if I don't get up and shut it off. Besides that's my only entertainment nowadays.

I sit up and slowly crack my eyes open. I jump back as I notice a pair of wet, manly legs.

"Eren." A voice calls and I wonder if I'm still dreaming. The voice is as soothing as always. It's tender and soft in my ear like a babies flesh. I rub my eyes and look again.

There's the rock hard body with the eight squares of muscle and the strong shoulders and arms. "Levi." I whisper. He walks over to my bed, climbing onto it, causing it to dip and complain. His warm, damp fingers enclose on my cheeks and he pulls my face into his. "I love you." He says. I try with all my might to resist the kiss. He's just too strong and our lips make contact before I have time to break free. His lips are kind of wet but just as soft as I remember.

"Don't just come in here after a week and kiss me, and claim you love me. You made a promise to me. You said you'd never leave me lonely. I believed you. I told you I trusted you." I say. An  uninvited tear rolls down my cheek.

"Eren, there are things in this world bigger than the both of us." He says massaging my ears. "You just have to trust me with everything you have. Put all of your faith in one thing and I hope that thing is a person. I hope that person is me. You've been loyal, you've been waiting for me correct?" He asks.

I sniff forcefully, yet quietly so the snot doesn't leak from my nose. "M-mhm." I answer.

He pulls my head forward again and kisses me softly, passionately on the lips. Everything feels colorful. A rainbow of colors takes over my vision even though my eyes are closed, without a mouth my heart is singing, even though I'm sitting on a bed, I'm dancing. He pushes my shoulders down until I'm laying flat on my back. "I'll do it. I'll do you if that's what you want." He says looking me in the eye. "Just knowing that you have been waiting for me, it makes your feelings quite clear. You don't have to say it." He says. He drags my shirt above my head and gently kisses me once on the lips. He then slides his hand down my stomach into my unbuttoned pajama pants. "I'm about to touch it." He says. Inch by burning inch, his fingers come closer and closer to my sexual organ.

"Okay." I say closing my eyes tightly.

"No," he says stroking my face comfortingly. "Don't close your eyes. I want to see them. I want you to trust me." He adds. He stops his hand's journey inside my pants, waiting for me to look at him again. My eyelids slowly part and I look up into Levi's grey eyes, they look black in the darkness. "That's more like it." He says. His fingertips slide underneath my underwear and then halt. His four second pause builds the anticipation and when he suddenly wraps his fingers around my erection I moan loudly.

"Uuuh~ Levi!" I yell breathily.

"I know, I know. It feels good." He says stroking it softly. "Nice, it's getting wet." He releases me and I moan wantonly for more. He slides my pants and underwear off and strokes my penis once again. His strong hands wrap around the backs of my knees and pushes them up so my knees are near the sides of my face which sets the illusion of stomach rolls on my front side. If right now I was in control of the muscles of my face I'd smile up at him. I wouldn't stop smiling.

"Are you in pain?" He asks looking down at my half-lidded eyes.

"N-no. Continue." I gasp. With his pointer finger he pokes my hole for a moment, then slides it in. "Mm!" My breathing halts, then comes out in small puffs.

"Does this hurt?" He asks twisting his finger in further.

I hold my breath as he moves his finger. "No." I reply. It does hurt, it burns.

He retracts his finger and probes the puckered hole with his thumb. "This feels weird. It's like this at first," he says. He dips his thumb inside of me. "Then when you put something in it, it's smooth. Hahaha, I don't know what to do." He says twisting his thumb all the way inside of me.

I'm able to stop my moaning for a second. "Levi," I say. I hold his wrist still as he looks me in the eye, then slowly I pull his thumb out of me. I flip over from my back to my hands and knees. "Put your penis in here." I say lightly touching my hole. I turn my head around to look at him and he's looking at his dick. It looks hard and long.

"Okay." He says getting onto his knees and grabbing my waist. "Eren, I don't like this. I can't see your face." He says.

"U-uh... It's okay. I'm fine." I say breathing heavily.

"One more thing, I don't think it's going to fit." He says and I feel his penis at my door, waiting to come inside.

"J-just try it." I mumble lowering my head. I can see my own legs, my own erection, and Levi's legs behind mine. I reach a hand up and place it on Levi's thigh. "Come on." I say stroking his skin.  His leg is wet, I'm not sure if it's sweat but it probably is because I'm sweating hard too. Such an embarrassing thing isn't so embarrassing here with Levi.

I yell and hold my breath as Levi's grip on my waist changes and his head is inside of me. My breathing is choppy as I try to get a few breaths in. I admit it would've been better if I were facing Levi. "Are you okay?" He asks with concern. He suddenly pulls out.

"N-no, I'm fine!" I say exasperatedly. Levi flips me around to lay back on my back and I smile up at him. "This is better." I moan.

"Okay." Levi says. "So it doesn't hurt when I'm going inside of you?" He asks putting my legs back up with my knees on either side of my head and his penis against me once again.

"No." I lie. It hurts, it burns like hell but I want Levi to touch me like this. I want him to be the only one who's touched me, and who will ever touch me. I look up into his eyes and I know he's honest, I know he'd never try to hurt me. I know he loves me for real. What he's saying... He's not confused. That's why I'm pretty sure that I love- Levi slides into me to the hilt. My moans of pain echoe through the house and I'm not even sure how Levi's pelvis is all the way against my butt. I moan for about thirty seconds and Levi gently rubs my thigh. "I-I'm okay." I whisper.

"You're okay? Should I begin?" He asks. His hand comes over mine and intwines with my fingers. He pulls out partly, right to the head of his dick, then he slowly comes back all the way in. It hurts, it burns, but it's Levi so I'm okay with it. "Eren I love this. I love you. I feel like we're becoming closer and I- ahh~ I love being connected to you like this." He says as he repeats his actions. 

I feel his penis inside of my stomach every time he pushes it all the way in. "I love you too." I moan quietly.

"Heh, did you say something?" He asks but I know he's joking. He heard me. His hand comes over my penis and he strokes it to the best of his slow thrusts. After the third thrust, white liquid bubbles out of me onto Levi's hand. My moaning is at a crescendo and Levi stops his thrusts to smile over me as I finish up. "That was a surprise." He says moving his fingers around in my cum. "It's slick."

"A-are you about t-to cum too?" I ask shakily. Thick sweat forms in between Levi's fingers and mine but I don't care. I'm not going to let go of his hand for anything.

"Cum?" He asks. He continues his thrusts. They start to feel really good and it makes me wonder if I'm being made love to. This counts I'm sure. He suddenly halts with a grunt.

"Keep going." I assure him. He's close I bet. He restarts his thrusts and I smile as he's unable to keep his eyes open, which was our agreement. With his free hand, wet with my "slickness" he grabs onto my leg tightly. He kisses it a few times and his thrusts speed up. His mouth falls open and his eyebrows turn upwards and I know it's getting ready to come out. He grunts loudly and after two more rough thrusts that make me moan I can feel him spurting inside of me. It's shooting so deep and it's so heavy, much more heavier than mine.

He lays down on top of me, breathing deeply. "What was that?" He asks in amazement.

"You came." I reply. I feel excessively hot in the inside even after Levi pulls out. When some of his ecstasy dribbles out of me he catches it and compares his to mine. His is much whiter, it's also thicker looking, and chunkier, it has a stronger smell. I whimper as I feel something moving inside of me. It's hard to explain. Is this what always happens during sex? It feels like tiny little fish are swimming inside of me, but I guess that's technically what sperm is.

"Are you okay?" Levi asks laying down right in front of me. He puts his forehead on mine.

"I'm okay." I say. "I'm so happy." I add.

Levi chuckles softly. "Me too." He says. We still haven't let go of each other's hand and I bring them up to my lips, kissing the part where our fingers are combined, then kissing the back of his hand. 

"Levi?" I call. I bring my face into his and kiss him softly on the lips.

"Yes." He answers copying me. His kiss is longer though and there's more passion and emotion in it.

"Could you teach me how to swim?" I ask. Yeah, it made sense since he was the one person I trusted completely. It made sense since he was a great swimmer. His expression changes and it sets me off. He looks worried. I copy his expression because I'm worried since he's worried.

"Yeah." He says clearing his throat. He forces a smile on his face. "Tomorrow then." He says. His smile isn't long lived. He turns away from me much to my confusion and he let's go of my hand. The cool air hits my naked wet hand, drenched in a mixture of Levi's and my own sweat. "Eren?" He asks.

"Y-yes?" I ask staring at the density of his back muscles. I place my hand on his back just to feel the collections of muscle. It's warm, just like Levi always is.

"You love me right?" He asks.

I frown. "Yes, I do." I say. I do love him. I didn't hesitate because I know I do. Besides the fact that it's a little embarrassing, it feels completely right to say I love him, to admit it.

"I want you to remember that for tomorrow." He says. Although he can't see it, and even though I'm confused, I nod. 

"Okay. I will." I say. I can't stand talking to his back. Our relationship is built on eye contact and straightforwardness. I wrap my arms around his stomach and chest. After feeling him up, touching his strong pectorals, sliding my hand down over his nipple down to his abs, the hand that was already on his abs I place over his penis and I just leave it there, I wonder if he's asleep because as I drag my hand down each square of muscle he doesn't mutter a word, but yes after feeling him up, raking my fingers down his soft warm skin, I'm finally put at ease enough to fall asleep.

I wake up in the morning feeling wonderful. The sun shines in through my window I can hear seagulls or something, I can tell today's going to be pretty good. I'm disappointed but not surprised that Levi isn't next to me when I wake up. After the first night we're supposed to wake up smiling next to each other but no, I'm smiling alone. He could make it up to me tonight though so I won't let it bother me.

After stumbling around with spaghetti legs I make it to the bathroom and take a long hot shower. I smile to myself as I get brief reminders of different events that occured last night.

It's pretty cold outside despite the sun shining. As I'm looking out at the new water the storm last night brought in, I notice a naked Levi sitting on the edge of my dock. I smile as I slowly walk over to him, my hands in my jackets pockets. "So I find my Juliet outside after our big night hm?" I say as I get closer to him.

He turns his head around and smirks up at me, before turning back the other way. "Wouldn't you technically be Juliet?" He says more than asks.

"Well sure let's get technical." I say with a laugh. I next to him letting my feet dangle over the docks edge. "Why are you out here naked? Not that I mind or anything." I ask. He won't stop looking forward, towards Jean's house or just forward at nothing.

"Look at me." I say grabbing his chin and moving it so he's looking at me. "What's wrong?" I ask. I bring my face forward and I kiss him on the lips. His lips are stiff and dry and he doesn't kiss back. I'm so confused.

"Eren, I'm not what you think I am. I mean, my feelings for you are what you think they are it's just that.. People like me and you aren't supposed to end up together. If this was some sort of fairy tale then maybe, but this is real life." He says.

"Wait, are you breaking up with me?" I ask. "Because I'm pretty sure you were the one who said all that stuff about love not having genders or something." I say.

"Yeah I said something like that but genders aren't what I'm talking about. You and I are the same gender, but of a different species." He says seriously.

I frown in absolute confusion. "What are you talking about?" He says.

"Eren, I'm the best suited to teach you how to swim because I'm a fish. I'm a jealous, overprotective, murderous fish. I'm selfish and cynical and I don't deserve you at all. I'm anything but honest." He says and he looks troubled.

"A fish? Cynical? Selfish? A fish? What are you talking about? You're not selfish! You're amazing!" I shout.

"The only good thing I've ever done was save you during that storm and I don't even know why I did that. I could've, I could've really hurt you." He says. This conversation is really confusing.

"You could've hurt me? You were the one who saved me. If it weren't for you I'd be dead." I say. "It wasn't some angel bringing me to heaven it was you, it was you bringing me to safety Levi." I say.

"What?" He asks.

"I thought I was dying, I thought angels were carrying me but it was you Levi. I love you. Now let's throw all of these weird doubts and stuff away, and you teach me how to swim already Mr. Fish." I say with a hopeful laugh that whatever this is, is over.

"Mr. Fish?" He laughs. "Okay, if you really love and accept me come into the water. If you don't love me anymore and you can't accept me then turn around and go home. Wait until I go in first." He says and I nod. What is this?

He takes a deep breath and slides off of the dock, into the water. "It's salt that changes me into a human. It hurts but I deal with the pain. Ha that day we first met you thought it was sunburn but the salt literally sucked all of the moisture out of my tail. It works kind of like that snail on tv that they threw salt on and it shriveled up." He rambles on and on. As he's in the water he begins to change. I can't tell how but he's changing. My eyebrows furrow.

I look closer and his ears start to point. A layer of scales grows over his neck and I instinctively jump back. "Look at my eyes Eren, it's me." He says. On each side of his neck three slits form, no not slits, three gills. 

"I don't need oxygen like you do." That's something he's said to me.

His neck also grows longer. "Eren." He says swimming close to the dock and putting a hand on my bare ankle. His hand feels disgusting, literally just like the fin of a fish. I rip my ankle out of his grasp. My eyes are open so wide that the sun can't even convince them to close.

He lays back in the water, floating on his back and what used to be his legs is now a long dark blue tail. There were spikes sprouting off of it that were probably some form of antenna. I crawl backwards until I have enough sense to stand to my feet. "I never thought in a million years that you'd look at me like that." He says. His pupils go from grey to red, his skin goes from white to greyish.

An odd feeling starts in my stomach then whineys it's way to my throat. I throw up in the water and Levi swims back away from it.

"I'm a freshwater mermaid not a fresh from the stomach-" Levi starts before I cut him off.

"J-just stop." I say holding my stomach.

"Eren I love you." He says and I throw up even more. "So are you going to come in with me or-"

"I-I can't. I just can't." I say standing up and running back to my house.

What did I just see? What on earth did I just see? Did I really just see that? No. I didn't. But I did didn't I? The water always all over the place. The time he disappeared in the water. He said he lives closer than I think but the only other place that's close other than Jean's and Rod's house is the water. The clues were there all along. It's as if he wanted me to find out rather than he having to show me himself. He looked so hurt when I walked away from him but how could I stay? His lower half was always wet and slimy. The clues have always been there. If he's such a freshwater mermaid, this is the only lake for miles, how is it that I've never seen him before? Maybe he was washed up during the storm.

Ah! In the bathroom that one time I came in even though he told me not to, he was rubbing salt on his tail. His legs were red after that.

All day I think about Levi and everything he's said to me, I think about him being a mermaid and I think about my decision to run back to the house.

How else could I react? There was no other way.

He should've told me what he was before we got so personal last night, but that was the best night of my life so far. I love his personality just as much as I love his looks, his human looks. He was still the same person and although his eyes turned red they're the same eyes I stared up into as he was making love to me. They're the same eyes I've looked into before and after we've kissed so many times. They're the same eyes I admitted my love to just a couple of minutes ago and last night. That first time he kissed me I was so surprised and so embarrassed but it felt good. He promised he'd never leave me lonely.

I don't care that he's a mermaid, because he's still the same person. That's right. These perminant water stains on the floor that I stroke gently will be here forever just like Levi promised to be. I'll make the same promise to him.

I already promised myself I'd look past the fact that he was a man, and I'd focus only on his soul. The same thing applies here. No matter what, I love that soul, that's the thing I fell in love with although his human body is a little more than perfect and his human face is far more so.

I walk outside and strip down to my underwear. I put my feet in the shallow water where I can still feel the sand. A fish swims over my foot and I flinch in disgust. Another one comes and again I flinch. I keep moving forward though fish after fish swims across my foot. I don't care. They keep coming until it doesn't bother me anymore. Even when the water is up to my waist, scaly bodies swim across my feet and legs. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't. The water comes up to the middle of my chest.

"Levi!" I yell. "Levi I'm in the water." I say walking further out. "I'm in the water for you!" I shout. I can't walk anymore and I doggy paddle to keep my head above the water. "Levi!" I shout. "I love you." I say before water goes into my mouth. A few feet away from me is the edge of my dock. If Levi doesn't come for me I'll have to make it over there. I start to make my way there, water relentlessly going into my mouth and up my nostrils. "Levi!" I shout. My breathing is becoming desperate. After every breath I take, the one after it is mostly water. I get underneath the dock but I don't have enough thrust left in my exhausted body to grab the edge. I raise my hand a push my body upwards as my only adrenaline last resort, my eyes conpletely lidded, and someone grabs my hand.

Someone grabs my hand.

"Levi?" I whisper before coughing up water.

"No, it's me."


	6. Chapter 6

I sit in the boat with Jean just drifting around in the lake. For about a minute I'm unable to talk and I'm coughing up water.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jean asks looking down at me with pity.

"No, not really." I say.

There is a really awkward silence on the dinghy and just on the lake all together. The water is too calm. The wind is too calm.

"Hey man, it's about time that you learned how to swim. Tomorrow I'm teaching you how." Jean says. "And I'm teaching you the right way. I won't leave you out in the lake." He adds.

I agree.

At night when I go to sleep I'm so lonely. Every little thing reminds me of Levi, the stains on the kitchen floor, my fathers closet, the tv, this bed that I'm laying in alone. My reaction was perfectly normal. I think he shouldn't be too hurt by it. Afterall I did end up forgiving him. However he didn't really lie to me. It's not like I asked him if he was a monster and he said no.

I sigh. My bed smells like him. He smelled funny I knew I smelled like ocean or something on him. I was so enticed by him that I didn't even notice.

That man... No that fish that washed up on the beach after saving me and upon waking up, instantly kissed me and confessed his love for me, maybe that's when I began to lose my senses.

I spent my night hopeful that Levi would visit me. He never did.

After sleeping with someone for the first time, the next night the loneliness you feel is unreal. His warm secretory body was the main component that put me to sleep after we made love.

I waited for Jean at my dock and surprisingly he came in his mother's RIB. "How'd you sleep last night?" He asks. He probably looked at the dark circles under my eyes.

"I slept okay." I lie.

"Oh. Well my mom is feeling better lately. It was my hospitality." He says arrogantly. I shake my head and roll my eyes with a smile. "You seem a little more...." He trails off.

"A little more what?" I ask.

"I don't know, like, mature. You seem like you've grown up or something overnight." He says.

"Ah," is all I reply. I don't think I should tell him that I have a mermaid lover just yet.

I wonder how he'd even feel about Levi. He's my bestfriend, I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

"Okay, are you ready to learn how to swim?" Jean asks. He gives me a fake smile of optimism.

"I mean, I wore my best shorts." I say sarcastically. I step into his RIB and he begins to drive. I lay back until I notice the direction he's driving. "Hey, hey! What are you doing?" I ask.

"Relax, I'm teaching you how to swim." He says.

"I'm not going to the ocean!" I yell seriously. My body feels hot and my heart starts beating faster. I can feel my blood boiling and my nerves are at their ends. "I'm going to drown. Jean seriously, stop. Take me back to the lake." I say. I can feel my breath, I'm about to hyperventilate. I now have like three traumatic experiences with water.

"Don't you trust me?" He asks.

We're in the ocean. My chest rises and falls at a rapid rate.

"I'm not going in there!" I shout.

"It's how you learn." He says.

I look out at the water and I want to cry so bad. The water is dark blue and I can't see through it. The lake's water is always filthy but atleast I can see through it to the floor sometimes. "Jean, honestly, are you trying to kill me? Like for real, be honest. Because if you aren't you'd take me back to the lake. I can't swim." I say trying to calm my entire body down. I'm sweating so hard. I'm so scared. The waves are huge and when they crash against the boat, water spills inside. I scoot my feet away from the salty water. "Jean! Jean! Please get me out of here! Please take me back!" I yell. I close my eyes tightly.

I squint an eye open and Jean's standing. "Come on, this time I know it will work." He persuades.

He grabs on my arms and I begin to panic. "Jean! Jean I'm serious stop." I say resisting as much as I can. In a minute he has me up and we're wrestling on the boat. As he tries to throw me in, I cling onto him and he falls in with me. We instantly sink.

His arm wraps around my back and we break through the surface of the water.

"Dude! You flipped the boat over." Jean says. "This was going to work." He adds. I get on my back, trying my hardest to relax so I can float. Jean releases me and swims towards the boat.

"Jean! Where are you? Jean! Come help me." I say. My legs begin to lower. I can't calm myself down enough to float. I can feel my body stiffening. In a few seconds I'll sink. I look over at Jean and before his hand even touches the boat, it's flipped back right side up. That's the last thing I see before I begin to sink. I sink slowly due to the density in the water.

Before my eyes are underwater a strong arm wraps around my waist and carries me back to the surface. I'm dragged pulled and yanked, then thrown into the boat. I cough and gasp for my breath. When I'm done with my episode I can tell someone in the water is yelling. I look over the edge of the boat, careful not to tip it and there seems to be a power struggle in the water.

I can see a long dark blue tail around Jean. "Eren! Help! Something's trying to drown me." He yells frantically. His arms flail around in the water. A pair of red eyes shoot up at me and I recognize them.

"Levi! No!" I yell. "That's my friend!" I shout as I notice Levi holding Jean's head underwater. "Levi!" I shout and I sit back down when I notice the flailing has stopped. He killed Jean.

Jean's body is hurled onto the boat and I scream. "He's not dead." Levi's voice says calmly. "Help me up." He says. I look over the boat at him. He's in his mermaid form no doubt but his ears aren't pointy and there's no gills on his neck.

I shakily reach my hand to Levi's over the boat. I groan in disgust when I feel his slimy hand but it's Levi's, I chose to accept him. My hand shakily pulls him onto the boat and he sits across from Jean and I.

I see the scales disappearing on his tail and it's starting to turn the color of his skin, the blue becoming paler and paler.

"I-I thought you said salt turned you back into a human." I stutter. I can't handle the strong eye contact. The sexual tension on this boat is so thick, I'm suffocating. I look down at my thumbs and start twiddling them.

"There's salt in the ocean." He says simply.

"Oh..." I say. I still can't look into his eyes. 

"I heard you screaming so I came here. Salt water isn't good for fresh water mermaids. It confuses us... Makes us weaker. If this were the lake your friend would already be dead." Levi says.

He came here, to a place harmful to him so he could save me? That was really sweet. I don't understand something though. "How'd you know it was me screaming?" I ask.

He chuckles softly, his laugh turning into a hiss of pain as his fun begins to split down the middle. "I don't think you want to know the answer to that." He says.

"No I do." I say looking up briefly, then looking back down as his legs take shape.

"Well, since my sperm is still swimming around inside of you, I can smell it for miles. So at any given point in the day I know exactly where you are. It would be sort of troublesome to get out because it's not like human sperm, to be more technical there's tiny fish fetuses inside of you. Heh- I'm impressed you got rid of as much as you did because mermaid sperm is relentless and it won't stop moving until it's fertilized something. As a human man you don't have eggs right? Sorry if they're restless in there." He rambles on.

I feel sick all of a sudden. That's actually disgusting. "Will they die?" I ask. "Not that I want them to but sometimes I feel squirming inside of me and it makes me feel sick." I say.

"I don't think they'll die, they'll just stay infertilized organisms." He says nodding. "I don't think they'll grow either."

"Huh? Huh! Eren that's the guy who tried to kill me! Why is he on the boat? Why is he naked!" Jean yells. He quickly sits up, making the boat rock. I feel very sick and a huge wave reminds me that we are still in the ocean.

"No! No Jean! It's all one big misunderstanding. He thought you were hurting me. His name is Levi and he's cool. He's the one from after the storm." I say.

Levi's eyes open widely and Jean's does the same. "I've seen you before." Levi says.

Jean nods. "Before that storm." Jean says. There's an awkward tension on the boat and I'm confused. Jean said he saw him before the storm and they gave each other attitude or something.

The boat ride home is too awkward. I'm so glad we're in the RIB. A forty minute ride in the dinghy is a ten minute ride in the RIB.

It feels nice to have Levi back in my house and as soon as he comes in he sits down in front of the old t.v. I take a shower and when I come back downstairs he's still watching t.v. I stand in the doorway and watch his eyes move, following people on screen.

My breath catches in my throat when Levi turns his head towards me.

"How long are you going to stand over there and watch me?" He asks. He has this bored look on his face and it makes my upper thighs itch.

"Oh, you knew I was here?" I ask scratching my head.

"You just had a shower right?" He asks.

"Y-yeah." I answer. This tension has never been between us. He used to be jumping around telling me that he loves me. I miss that. He hasn't said it all day.

"I can still smell it inside of you." He says. A blush sprouts from one of my ears to the other.

"Levi?"

"Go upstairs and get undressed. I'm watching something right now but I'll be up there in a minute." He says turning back to face the television.

Butterflies swim in my stomach, or is it fish? Either way I'm sort of turned on at how comfortable he's gotten with me. From the start he's always been comfortable with me, kissing me the instant we met.

I sit on my bed just thinking. What are Levi and I going to do when my father returns? My father won't approve of Levi definitely. He'd be upset if it were Jean but he'd eventually accept that, with Levi I don't think so at all.

"Wow, you haven't taken off a thing. Don't stress your self, I don't mind stripping you at all." He says approaching me on the bed.

I giggle. "Where'd you get that dirty vocabulary?" I ask.

"I figured it out." He says and we both laugh. "Eren, I want you to become one with my fish half too." He says.

"Woa, I'm not into tentacle sex." I say. I laugh at my own joke and Levi just doesn't get it.

"I don't have tentacles." He says.

He leaves the bed for a moment and he comes back with water dripping from his hands. "What are you doing?" I ask.

As he's climbing onto the bed he pushes my shoulders back to the bed. "Do you trust me?" He asks and I nod immediately. He nods back and slides his slimy hands up my shirt slowly. He moves so slow so I can feel the thin, translucent scales on his hands. He goes further and gently slides his hands over my nipples which makes me moan loudly and it echoes inside my house.

As he's sliding his hands back down my torso I shiver in pleasure. "Does this feel good?" He asks.

"Y-yes." I say.

He does it once more and when he gets to my nipples I hold my breath. I can feel my penis raising and it pokes Levi's thigh that's in between mine.

He chuckles softly and the vibrations from his deep voice stir up my insides. "Eren it's poking me." He says.

"I know." I reply. His hands move down to the waist of my shorts and as they're drying back up, they begin to feel like normal hands again. He slides my shorts off of me and I can feel his hot breath on my sensitive erection.

"Down, boy." He says in a humorous tone.

"Levi, if salt water is harmful to you, why did you come to save me?" I ask. I was doing it on purpose, I wanted him to say it again. I wanted him to say what I haven't heard from him in a while.

"Because I love you Eren." He says and then he swallows my erection completely.

I throw my head back and whimper. "I-I want to know... Everything about y-you, Levi. What part of the water do you come from? Is Atlantis real? Have you b-been there- Oh god!" I mutter. His tongue feels so good, his mouth is so warm. It's like every part of my penis is being massaged all at once. His saliva is thick and when he releases me to catch his breath, trails of it follow his mouth.

"Atlantis isn't real. But there is a city of mermaids. Not like your human cities. We live like octopus in holes in the bottom of the sea. I watched The Little Mermaid and it disgusts me. I wish I lived a life like that. Everything's dark in the ocean that movie makes no sense. King Triton, ruler of all the seven seas. That makes no sense. The oceans are way to big for one rusty old man to control all of them. We live in clans. I'm the leader of my clan, there's only leaders. There are no kings." He says.

I prop myself up on my elbows and frown down at him. "It's just a fairy tale." I explain.

"I know. The only good thing about that movie is how the sailor and the mermaid fell in love." He says pushing me back down.

In the morning I wake up so sore. There are bruises all up my arm, my legs are quivering, and I'm sure there are about a thousand little fish swimming around inside of me now. He came twice inside of me. I look over at him and smile. This time he stayed, he didn't run off in the morning. I look at his strong powerful back and my hand is drawn to the muscle.

I try to stand up and I fall instantly, my knees buckling. He had me on my hands and knees all night so my wrists are sore too.

I take a shower and put on my last pair of clean clothes. Tomorrow I'll have to do laundry.

I check on Levi's sleeping figure again before walking outside and sitting on the sand letting the waves crash onto my feet.

I stand up and walk into ankle deep water. Levi is wonderful. How did he describe himself that one time? A jealous, cynical, murderous fish. What was that about? And while we were making love he was saying weird things. He was completely repulsed with Disney's The Little Mermaid. He said there are no kings, just leaders. He said he was a leader and that he had a clan. He said mermaids didn't live in luxurious mer-cities but instead, they live in holes in the dark ocean like octopi.

Nice to know I'm in love with a murderous fish who lives in a ditch at the bottom of the ocean and hates Disney movies. Murderous....

Now that I think about it, I've never seen Levi eat. He said he was murderous so I wonder if he's like Princess Ariel, a friend to all sea life, but for him they're only friends until lunch time.

That's just how it is I guess. It's like that up here too, on land. We think pigs are cute friends until the age where we learn what bacon actually is.

A fish swims across my foot. Instead of the disgust I was expecting to feel it felt... Pleasurable. That's sick. Another fish swims across my foot and a chill goes down my spine. I quickly get out of the water, not in disgust of the fish, but in disgust of myself. Levi's hands felt just like that last night. Those hands that made me wail and moan in pleasure are made of the same scale that repulsed me so much.

I slowly walk out to my dock and have a look around at the calm water. Of course now that I'm enjoying it's calmness from the distance I see a boat approaching. It's that boat with the light on it.

They pull up to my dock and get out, Erwin and Mike. They're here, what does that mean?

"How's it going, boy?" Erwin asks.

"U-uh great." I say.

"Search this whole house Mike." Erwin says and Mike walks past me. I follow him.

"W-wait! What's going on?" I ask.

"There's been another murder. Another body turned up in this lake last night. It was pretty loud in your house last night. Do you mind telling me what happened here? Don't follow him." He tells me.

I blush. I couldn't tell him what happened. "Um nothing. Like I mean last night nothing really happened." I say.

"And you're sticking with that?" He asks. I wince when the sun reflects off of his binoculars hanging around his neck.

"I've really done nothing suspicious. I-I was settling my sex drive last night..." I admit. My face and body is boiling.

"Ah, I've never heard that one before." He says. I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not. I hear footsteps behind me and I turn to face Mike. "Find anything?" He asks.

"There's a bunch of manly fluids in his bed and there seems to be rough stains on the kitchen floor. Stains like somebody's been scraping something." Mike says.

"So you were boning someone last night... Then afterwards what did you have to clean up in the kitchen?" Erwin asks.

"Afterwards I was exhausted." I say. My heart rate is increasing. I feel like I'm in the middle of the ocean by myself.

"Ah so you cleaned something up before?" He asks.

"N-no!" I yell.

"Where's your pappy son?" Mike asks.

"He's- He'll be here like next week I think." I stutter.

"Oh. Mike was there anyone in the house?" He asks.

"M-my friend was sleeping." I butt in.

Mike looks at me strangely. "There was no one inside." He says.

"Look, if you guys want someone suspicious the man that lives there has a shot gun and he's even threatened to kill my friend." I say pointing at Rod's house.

Erwin removes his binoculars from his neck and looks in the direction of his house. "What the hell?!" He says with alarm.

He let's Mike and then me look into the binoculars and it's like Rod is staring through them at me. He has his shot gun in his hand and he slowly walks back into his house.

"Let's go over there." Mike says.

Erwin nods.

Thank god. That was so scary. My heart isn't even slowing it's beating yet. I head back to my house.

"No, you're coming too." Erwin says grabbing my wrist roughly.

Erwin knocks loudly on Rod's door. "This is Deputy Erwin. Open up." He says. "Eren, this friend of yours you keep mentioning, are you talking about the fish seller's son?" He asks.

"Ms. Kirchstein doesn't sell fish anymore." I say. "There's been a really big fish shortage lately." I say sympathetically.

Jean's mother works really hard I find and sell fish. For some reason the fish around here have been decreasing at a fast rate. I think it's because they're really stupid. I mean they swim across a fish-eating human's feet every ten seconds.

"What psychopathic freak stabs all these good looking young people so many times? When we get there the bodies are always cold and slimy." Mike says under his breath. I look at him with concern and his expression is so disgusted.

"I ain't letting nothing near my daughters, not even you people. I don't trust anybody except the boy." He says.

Am I the boy?

"Sir, can we please come inside?" Erwin asks in a demanding tone.

"I ain't letting you by my girls." Rod says. "I assure you that I have nothing to hide but you're not coming in here unless you have a warrant."

I feel sort of stupid for letting them take advantage of my rights. I didn't have to let Mike into my house. He went all through my bedroom, under the covers and just invaded my privacy.

"If you really had nothing to hide you'd let us in. That was a pretty big gun you had a minute ago. Like hunting?" Erwin asks.

"Where I come from huntin' is all we do." Rod says. He's stubborn. He stands in the doorway strongly, menacingly. He is a mountain and he will not be shaken.

What is he hiding? Why is he so obsessed with keeping his girls safe? I mean there has been a lot of murders lately but these deputies are the good guys. Sure they were persistent and annoying and sure they forced themselves inside of my house but they're trying to catch whoever is responsible for these murders. I think if he really wanted to protect his girls he'd let the deputies do their jobs. I think he's the killer.

Jean did warn me about this guy...

"So are you going to let us have a look around or what?" Erwin asks.

"I already told you fellas." Rod replies.

"Well we will be back with a warrant. Now if you really cared about your girls you would've just let us see inside of your house really quick, dismiss you as a suspect, and move forward in the investigation. In these kinds of moments time is crucial and you're wasting that crucial time. So when we're pulling your daughter's body out of the lake with her throat slashed open-" Mike says before he is cut off.

"Get off of my property." Rod says. With that, he nods my way and enters his house, slamming the door behind him.

I sit low in the deputy boat just listening to their conversation, Erwin's and Mike's.

"How many bodies are going to pile up before we catch this guy?" Mike says loudly.

"You didn't have to insult the man's daughter." Erwin replies. "Look we have to use our heads. What could be a possible motive for killing people around a lake? Where are these people coming from?" Erwin says.

"We already looked into that at HQ and nothing showed up for any of them. There's no records of these people anywhere." Mike says.

"Nonetheless it's still a life. Illegal immigrants?" He asks.

"That's what I thought. They're features were so exotic. Who's bringing these people in?" Mike asks.

"It's probably that Rod guy. We need a warrant as quickly as possible and then we'll straight up trash his house." Erwin says.

"They were all killed by knives, stabbed in the stomach twice and then the necks were slit." Mike says. It sounds like he's thinking very hard. I sit up in the boat and look over it. This conversation is going to make me throw up. I just look at the prestine sand as we get closer to my house. I see a dark blue figure and it makes me sit up straighter and look harder.

"If I'm not mistaken there were bite marks all over the victims."

It's Levi's tail. I smile as I see his strong back. My smile isn't long living. He slowly turns around and I notice two pale legs lying on the beach right behind him. There's blood all over his torso and hands.

No... No way.

Murderous fish, jealous, cynical.

The clues were everywhere, just like the clues of him being a mermaid.

His red eyes, quick speed, bite marks on the body...

Just how did he sneak out of my house without Mike or myself seeing. He's cunning.

He's always leaving things out...

Sure he admitted to being a mermaid but he left out the maneating part. I throw up over the boat as Levi jumps into the water.

"Eren? Eren, what is it?" Mike asks.

"Dear god there's another body over there." Erwin says in disgust.

I sit on the dock, the wind hitting me in the face like a sheet of glass.

Why was he so desperate to have me? I'm so naive. Just because he said he loved me I let him into my life and into my heart. First I find out we're different species now I learn I'm just a potential meal.

I place a hand over my unsettled stomach. These swimming fish inside of me will probably start eating on my insides. They've been restless all day, maybe they're hungry.

Maybe it's like that one spider that lays her eggs inside of beetles so they can parasitically grow off of the beetles food, energy, and blood. Maybe letting him release inside was a plan of his. He's laid his little mermaid eggs inside of me. I'm going to slowly start deteriorating day by day until- I hear a sudden splash in the water and Levi's face surfaces.

"I know what you're thinking. I smelled you when I was-"

"Get away from me. I don't want to hear it." I say standing up.

 

"Eren I love you." He says and a warm feeling rushes over my cold body.

"No." I say covering my ears.

"I love you so much and if you love me, then you should trust me." He says.

As I'm walking backwards the creaky dock's wood gives out in one spot. It makes me lose my footing and fall over the edge. As I fall and sink into the water I look straight up at the moon coming in over the sky.

Then just like our first encounter Levi's hands wrap around me. His blue tail is long and scaly with the antennae moving around in the water. He pulls me into a hug that's so warm even though the water is cold. For a second, I forget I can't breathe. My hands shakily wrap around his midsection, palms flattening against his back. My hand shakes nervously as I place it on where Levi's butt would be. I stroke his scales with my finger tips while I look into his eyes. It isn't so bad once you get comfortable with it.

As if I wasn't lightheaded enough from the lack of oxygen, Levi attaches his lips to mine and he kisses me softly, making me feel completely empty, but terribly warm. As water begins to flow through my nostrils I feel his strong tail swimming upwards and I'm on the sand in a second. He licks my lips softly just as I enhale my first dosage of oxygen. I part my lips and allow his tongue inside of my mouth.

After a few minutes of kissing I touch my cheek and what I thought was water is actually tears. I cough and some water comes from my throat.

I flick my eyes over to his aesthetic figure sitting on the beach beside me like the little mermaid.

"Okay Eren. Since I love you, listen closely. I'll tell you everything from the beginning." He says before sighing deeply. He slides his slick hand over mine and gently squeezes it. "So,"


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be one of the most intense things you'll ever read in your little lives I'm so pumped and ready to write it

"I'm the strongest mermaid. It's my duty to protect my clan and any other clans when they are nearby by any means neccesary. The deaths... They aren't humans. The beings who are dying are all mermaids. Mermaids from my clan." Levi says.

"But they had legs." I say in confusion. "Did somebody take the time to salt their legs?" I ask. 

"No and that's the only clue we have. Everyone dead was killed in the ocean. Why were they dragged back to the lake? Who's hunting us?" Levi asks.

"Does Rod know that you're a mermaid? He's always watching over here! If he does then you're in danger!" I shriek. My hands turn into claws in the sand.

"Eren." Levi calls as he places his hand on my head. I look him in the eye. "Who's the only one around here who has an RIB? A dinghy like yours or Rod's wouldn't last in that kind of water." Levi says. He slides his scaly hand down my face then back onto my hand.

No... He's trying to imply that Jean's mother is responsible for these murders?

"It was Rod Levi. He told me when you left that he would kill you. He said he wouldn't hesitate." I say. Yes that makes sense. It's Rod.

"Rod has a gun. We've seen it, the cops have seen it-"

"He didn't let the cops into his house. He refused. It was really suspicious." I babble.

No way was that nice woman capable of something so awful.

"Think for a moment. Would you be more afraid to rob a house that is locked, or one that is unlocked?" Levi asks.

"What?"

"No seriously. Think about it. Normal people, people who get afraid, they keep their doors locked. Someone who has nothing to fear will leave their doors open. So a normal person would be reluctant to let in some fat deputies when there are murders nearby, it's hard to trust people. Rod doesn't trust me because I'm not from around here and the minute I come people are being murdered." He says.

"I let the cops in without a problem. Does that make me suspicious? Besides Rod admitted that hunting was something he liked back where he comes from." I say. "It's Rod."

"For you it's different because you aren't smart when it comes to serious things." Levi says and I feel awfully offended. "The Kirschtein's are natural born fishers Eren. They make a living capturing animals of the sea. These victims are being captured and mutilated with knives not guns." He says. He has a serious point here.

"So you think it's Ms. Kirschtein?" I ask. So her pretending to be sick was just so she could sneak around and kill mermaids.

"No it's not her." He says and my mouth hangs open. I shake my head.

"You've got to be kidding me. You can't think it's Jean!" I yell.

"Just think Eren! He saw me during that first storm. He knows I'm a mermaid. He knows you and I have something together. He took you out to the ocean, he didn't have the intention of killing you, but he had the intention of luring me there. He knows that the salt water would weaken me. He was probably expecting me to turn human so he could drown me easier. Since I wasn't he didn't expect me to be so strong and he lost. The things that happened in the ocean were no accident. All of that was planned by him, except me escaping with my life." Levi says.

No. I don't believe that for a second. "Why would he kill you in front of me if he was the killer? That's the first part of all of this that doesn't make sense." I say.

"Then Eren, maybe you weren't supposed to survive that either. He's always tried to kill you hasn't he? Hasn't he left you in the middle of the lake knowing you can't swim?" Levi asks. "Maybe you're just a pawn."

"No. That's ridiculous. He was trying to teach me how to swim both times. His methods are kind of scary-"

"Eren, if I didn't show up, you would have died. I'm not lying or exaggerating.  The only ones around here who can drive in the ocean. The fishermen with the knives for gutting fish. He dragged the people of my clan out to the ocean so they would turn into humans, making their murder easier for him. He's going to kill me Eren. I'm not just guessing or speculating here, the next chance he gets he will kill me." Levi says.

"He's the only one besides me who doesn't have a motive. Rod's trying to hide whatever is in his house. That's why he's killing mermaids." I say.

"He doesn't know there are mermaids in the lake."

"Yes he does. He knows you're one. He doesn't even trust outsiders." I say. It's Rod. I know it's him. He puts his girls above anything and everything. He's the only one with a motive. "It could also be the deputies." I say. "They came ransacking everything in my house-"

"Eren you know it's not them. Do you know anything about the family that lived where Rod moved into?" Levi asks all of a sudden.

"No. I just know that my house and Rod's were both empty for a while. I moved in first, then Rod. Why?" I ask.

"Ask your friend Jean about them the next time you get." Levi says. "The way I see it, the killer is Jean but there's the slightest chance that it's his mother. The chance that it's Rod is even smaller. I won't know until it's time for me to be killed." He says.

"Don't speak like that." I say. He blinks his red eyes a few times. "Stay deep underwater. It's unsafe for you to be in your human form right?" I ask.

"Yes, when I'm human it takes a whole minute for me to turn back into a mermaid. In that time I could easily drown." He says.

"I'd ask you to stay with me but-"

"I know Eren, I promised I wouldn't leave you lonely. I'll return to you in no more than two days." He says. The wind blows harshly, causing me to shiver and the sky gets darker.

"Promise?" I ask placing a hand on his neck, on top of his gills. I can feel him breathing through the slits on his neck and it's a weird experience.

"I promise." He says. He grabs the sides of my face and pulls my face into his. "Eren, I love you." He says kissing me tenderly on the lips. I notice that his lips are trembling and his movements are kind of shaky. "If I'm not back in two days, get Jean's RIB and get out of here." Levi says.

I hold his hand and pick it up to my lips, kissing it softly. He takes his hand from me and slides into the water. When he turns his face back towards me I swear I can see a tear on his cheek. We won't be seeing each other again, will we?

I stand up out of the sand, onto my feet and run into the water. I stop when the water reaches my waist. "Levi I love you too!" I yell at his vanishing figure.

"You can't swim. Don't follow me out here Eren. I love you. I'll see you in two days okay, no more than two days." He yells back at me before ducking his head into the water. His tail comes out of the water for a moment and then he's gone. The stormy air that I usually enjoy is thick and suffocating. I trudge back to my house.

I sit in the shower with my knees pressed against my torso and the warm water pours onto my chilled body. Who's the killer? Who's the killer? What if Levi's lying? What if he's the killer and the dead aren't really mermaids. That's right! I saw him by one of the victims and there was blood all over him. He never explained what made him a murderous fish.

Levi is a suspect too. Rod's daughters are suspects. The deputies are suspects. Everyone is a suspect.

I sit in the shower for atleast an hour. What's going to happen? What happened to the simple days where Jean and I would just hang out? What happened to the sweet days in Levi's and my own relationship. £€£¥€. When I think about our first moments together it usually cheers me up.

Usually but not today. Levi is my sunshine. He arrives right after the storm with a smile on his face, adding color to my grey world. He isn't a human, he isn't a hundred percent honest, but he loves me. He loves me and I love him. Who knows why, we just do. I'm not losing the one person in my life who has promised to be a constant. All I want is my father and Levi and I'll be happy. No more storms, no more grey skies. No cloudy vision, I want to see the world clearly and I can only do that if Levi is by my side in his human or mer form.

These tiny organisms that swim inside of my body remind me constantly that I'm not alone. They're here. So even when I'm alone, I'm not really alone. If I were a female one of these organisms, by now would be growing into a child. I can feel them and they give me an extra spark of life. Even after multiple showers these potential children choose to stay with me.

So I am not alone, and I can never be alone until the day that the very last one swims out of me.

I row my dinghy all the way to Jean's house in the morning.

"Eren." He says with a nod.

"Hey." I say as I tie my dinghy to his dock. I look over at his RIB and the sides of it look wet. I guess he's used it recently, seeing as the keys are still inside.

"Look, I'm so sorry for taking you out to the ocean. That's how my mom taught me how to swim." He says.

"That heartless, huh?" I say. That's a muderous thing to do to your son.

"My mother is not heartless." Jean says with a frown.

Oops. I shouldn't have said that. "I-I know. Sorry." I say quickly.

"Yeah. I feel really bad. So I've concluded it is mental. You know how to swim, I feel like you do know. Something's just blocking you from swimming. Maybe it's the fact that you haven't seen your mother since the incident." Jean says.

That makes a lot of sense. I can't get over that incident because maybe my brain thinks my mother is dead. Before I sank into the darkness, the last thing I saw was my mother clutching her chest and falling to the ground. My young mind thought she had just died and I probably still think that. My father shows me cards every time he comes back from his trips that my mother allegedly wrote for me. It's always the same message. "I miss you, I wonder what you look like now, I love you." But that writing, that hallmark card cursive writing, it's proof that she isn't dead. She didn't die then. My father's writing is doctor's scribbles.

"Maybe you're right. Hey how long were the deputies in your house?" I ask.

"Well after they interrogated me they asked if I had anything to hide in my house and I shrugged and let them in my house. After they looked around my mom poured them some tea and cooked them some shrimp." Jean says.

"Oh. Your mother cooks fish really well. Why didn't she cook them that?" I ask.

"You know how the fish have been disappearing lately." He says.

"Oh they aren't as plentiful as they used to be." I say with a nod of empathy.

"People aren't paying as much as they used to." Jean says. "Eren who do you think is murdering these people?" Jean asks. It's so sudden.

"I-I don't know. I think it's Rod." I say.

"Why do you think it's him? Because I told you to be weary of him or something else?" He asks.

"I-I-I just... The deputies took me to his house and he wouldn't let them in. I figure if you won't let in the police then you're obviously hiding something." I say.

"Eren. I have something to tell you..." Jean says, his tone is very different. It's deep and more serious.

What could he want to tell me? That he witnessed Rod killing someone? Could he be trying to tell me he witnessed Levi killing someone? Maybe on the night of the storm. That first storm. Maybe... I mean it is possible... He could be trying to confess to the crimes himself.

"What?" I ask softly.

"Okay. I think the killer is your father." He says in the same tone.

My lips curl into a smile and I wait for his to do the same, yet they don't.

"M-my father? He's all the way-"

"No he's back Eren, he's back." Jean says.

"N-no. Where's he been all this time then?" I ask. That wouldn't make sense. My father has a day or two left before he comes back. He has to get the new equipment to test the water and the pH. Besides they don't have the salidity monitors ready ever, until the last day of the trip.

"Jean! Come in for lunch!" His mother singsongs.

"You haven't eaten right?" Jean asks me as he backs towards his house.

"N-no but I'm fine." I say. He shrugs and jogs to his door. "Jean! Jean! How do you know my father is here? Where is he?" I ask but he can't hear me.

I hop back into my dinghy and row to Rod's house. An eerie atmosphere surrounds me as I walk towards his front door. I knock softly.

"Who is it?" A voice barks.

"I'm Eren sir." I say.

"Sweetie open the door." The voice says. It sounds calmer somehow.

A little blond girl opens the door and I'm taken aback by how fresh she looks. She looks like one of those flowers you see on the first of Spring. What are those flowers called? Sunflowers. She looks like a sunflower. Her teeth are perfect and her hair is daisy and she smells absolutely lovely.

"This is my daughter, Krista." Rod says.

This is the first time I've been in this house. I feel easy and uneasy at the same time. What kind of a thing might I see in here? He was so reluctant to let the cops in. Why is it that he let me in? Why is he letting me so close to one of his precious daughters that he cares about so much. For all he knows, I could be the killer.

"Rod sir, why were you so against letting the cops inside of your house and you let me in without a problem at all?" I ask. I look around the place, standing in one spot, but with eyes all over. Based on his speech I wasn't expecting such modern, high-class furniture. The inside of his house looks a lot like mine maybe even a little better.

"I told yah, I don't trust them deputies." He says. "Krista don't be rude say something to him. Offer him something."

"Hi." She says in the sweetest voice I've ever heard. "How are you?" She asks.

"I-I'm good thanks. How are you?" I ask in return.

"I'm fine thank you. Do you want something? Want to sit down?" She asks.

"No thanks." I say and she smiles.

"Okay. Nice meeting you-"

"I'm Eren."

"Nice meeting you Eren." She says before flying up the stairs.

"Isn't she adorable?" Rod asks.

"Yeah, she is." I say. "So sir, do you-"

"She almost didn't make it y'know?" Rod says looking up at me from his couch.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask.

"When she was a baby, her mother died of a heart condition. Holes in her chambers or something like that. She died while she was pregnant with Krista, my youngest daughter that you just met." He says taking a small breath.

"I'm sorry." I say walking over to him and sitting next to him on his couch.

"I had to watch them cut my baby out of my dead wife. Since she was already dead they didn't care about trivial things like cutting her open decently, like that was still a humans body they were tearing into. They ripped her flesh like paper. Then them suckers went on and grabbed Krista. I fainted, and when I woke back up I was in a hospital bed, holding my daughter like her mother should've been." Rod says. "But I'm over it see?" He says looking into my eyes. I guess he was trying to prove he doesn't cry about it anymore. "I decided I'd protect my girls from evils, you never know who the evils are. You know sometimes who they aren't, but you never know who they are." He says. "Like those deputies, I know about cops. They abuse the power like ain't nobody watching. They abuse power like nobody gon' say anything." He says.

"Is that why you keep your rifle near you?" I ask.

"That's exactly why. See my daughter has horrible anxiety. She was just born with that. It probably has something to do with her not getting oxygen for a while and being dead for two minutes at birth. I ain't letting no police in my house so they can flip my tables over and trash my house and give my daughter an anxiety attack. There ain't no way in hell." He says.

I feel sort of bad for thinking it was suspicious that he didn't let the deputies into his house. I never thought he would have a legit reason, but then again everything he's saying could be a lie. "So sir, I could be the killer. I'm not, but as far as you know I'm a suspect to the murders and you let me into your house, near your daughter." I say.

"Well as far as you know I could be the killer, yet you came into my house and I got a big gun over here." He says and it makes me think hard for a moment.

He's right. We formed a bond of trust without me even realizing. But something still lingers in the air. I'm pretty sure he knows Levi is a mermaid unlike Jean who showed no signs. The level that Rod freaked out when he saw Levi was beyond a natural "fear for my daughter" episode. He knows what Levi is. To protect his daughters from the species he's probably hunting them. I don't know who's the murderer. I don't know who it could be. All I know is Levi is in trouble. If I can't figure this out then he's done for.

"Eren boy. Go fetch me a cup of water." He says. I nod and stand to my feet, walking slowly to his kitchen. His house is unsettlingly quiet.

His kitchens theme is very retro and I wonder where some old country man could be getting all of this money. Maybe he's apart of some elite mermaid assassin squad.

I call myself stupid for that last thought.

I walk over to the sink and from the corner of my eye I can see the glimmer of metal. A knife lays in a pool of old looking blood. It's a fish knife. A knife used specifically for the gutting of fish. I cover my mouth as I back up into the refrigerator. It's him. He's the killer! I knew it.

"Something wrong?" Rod asks. I turn around and he's in the kitchen doorway.

"Y-you!" I yell.

He walks over to the stove and I notice a pan simmering on it. He turns one of the knobs.

"The fish is almost ready. Are you staying for dinner?" He asks. He frowns when he notices me covering my mouth and backing out of the kitchen. "Storm's coming. I think you should stay rather being caught in that. Oh! Ew can you smell this? Frieda!" He yells. He picks the knife up by the handle using only his thumb and pointer and he throws it in the sink. "My oldest daughter fishes and she thinks she's some kind of cook. It's funny but her food actually tastes really good. She's into sushi and all of that stuff." He says. "Reiss's are hunters, I tell her that. We hunt them wild animals, but not Frieda. She likes fishin'"

I relax my arms somewhat. That could be blood from the fish in the pan, but why would someone leave out the bloody knife. If someone were to do that then shouldn't they have left the fish guts on the counter too? "I should probably be getting back home." I say. Someone runs down the stairs.

"Oh Eren, won't you stay for dinner?" Krista asks. She grabs my hand and yanks on it. "Come on!" She whines. "Please!"

"Krista that's rude!" Rod yells.

"Sorry, I have to go. I'm expecting my father." I say.

"Please, Eren! We just met and I want to be good friends with you!" She whimpers, still yanking on my arm.

"Sorry..." I say and I feel really bad.

"Krista. Let go!" Rod yells. She looks over at her father and finally let's go.

"Maybe some other time then Eren." She says and I nod quickly.

"Of course." I say.

"Do you promise?" She asks.

"Yes." I say twisting open the knob and escaping the house.

I hop into my dinghy and as I'm rowing away I can see Krista watching me leave with the saddest puppy eyes I've ever seen. If Rod turns out not to be the killer, I swear Krista and I will be good friends.

When I get to my house the deputies boat is tied to my dock and they're leaving my house.

Without even tying my dinghy up I climb onto my dock and run towards them. "Excuse me. What are you doing in my house? That's against the law. I wasn't here to consent to a search." I yell.

I saw a movie where the town rangers break into peoples house or cars and hide incriminating evidence there. If they were the murderers they'd be leaving the fishing knife. Rod has one, Jean's family definitely has one, I have one, it's fancy and more for show than for anything, and I'm pretty sure the evidence is a fishing knife. That's the one thing that can connect someone to these murders.

"Son," Erwin says placing a hand on my head. I look over at Mike and he's taking off his hat. I'm confused. Erwin takes his hat off then squats in front of me. He grabs my arms. "The next victim is..." He says.

No...  
No! The next victim? Why would they be coming to see me about the next victim. I didn't do it. Come on, I know why. Someone I'm close to was the next victim.

No... He said he'd see me in no more than two days. He promised. With tears in his eyes... He knew he was next. He knew he wouldn't be coming back to me. He knew that that was our last moments together. I drop to my knees and cling on to deputy Erwin, throwing my hands around his back and audibly crying. Levi! I had so much to say to him. I had too much to say to him that I've never said. I told him like once that I loved him and he told me so many times. He was open from the very start. This outcome, I could see it from a mile away.

Levi I love you. The darkness. The darkness that follows me everywhere, not just in my nightmare, not just in my sleep, but the darkness that shadows my heart it engulfs me.

Mike puts a consoling hand on my back. "Your father was a great man." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there's like mad typos in this


	8. Chapter 8

I can still hear their voices echoing in my head. "He heard about the murders and decided to come home to you earlier..."

"He died of water inhalation. The rope marks on his wrist suggests that he was tied before he was thrown into the lake. This isn't like the other murders because your father was found in a boat he rented and the ropes were removed from his wrists which means the killer showed some remorse in killing him. My hypothesis is he must have witnessed one of another murders taking place and the killer had no choice but to kill him."

"But in order for that theory to fit, we'd have to find another body nearby."

"I swear kid we're going to catch this sick bastard."

I sit on the seat in the kitchen by the T.v. Levi's seat. I feel sick to my stomach. Atleast it wasn't Levi. I find myself thinking that time and time again. Your father was hardly around anyway, what will you actually miss?

I want to kill myself.

Thoughts that I've never thought fly into my head. They pop up, unexpectedly, uncensored and without warning.

I want to see Levi, I need to see him. I need to hold him. I need him to hold me.

Not even the organisms in my stomach can relieve this feeling of loneliness. My father, my one and only father is gone.

But that can't be true. That isn't true. My father comes home in two days. In two days my father will be back with his large new salidity tester and his pH scans, a card from my mother and a big smile on his face. He'll have souvenirs for me.

He'll call out and I'll answer him, come running down the stairs. I'll accept his gifts with the cheapest, cheesiest smile. After that he'll begin the tireless futile efforts of trying to teach me how to swim.

All I have to do is wait two more days for my father to return.

I sit down stairs for a while before taking a deep breath and heading upstairs. I'll sleep like this tonight, I'll sleep like this tomorrow and then not only will my father be coming home, but Levi will come back to me too.

"Do you need anything?" The deputies voice echoes through my head. I shake it off. I wonder why he asked me that.

Everything is okay.

I wake up in the morning to the sound of someone beating on my door. My face feels long and dry as I sit up, but believe me when I say I haven't slept so well in years. Well not years but... I feel as if I had some really long, yet extremely important dream.

I rush down the stairs and open the door. Jean stands outside of my door with the saddest expression. One, two arms come around my neck and Jean hugs me tightly.

"I'm so sorry." He says. "Your father was-"

"Oh that's right! I have to clean around the house. Tomorrow when he gets back and sees these water stains all over the floor oooh boy he's not going to be too happy." I say giggling as I slip out of this weird, unwanted hug and swipe all of the crumbs off of the table into my hands.

"Your father is-"

"Jean stop all your gabbing and help me out." I say cutting him off. Man that kid can talk. He shoots me a sympathetic face. The floor catches his attention as he pushes a chair up to the table. "Why do you look so sad?" I ask Jean. His face is bothering me so much.

"I know what you're doing Eren. This won't help. You have to stop pretending and accept what's happened." Jean says.

"What?" I ask. As I walk around in the kitchen, crumbs snap and pop under my feet. I grab the broom and begin sweeping the floor.

"Oh my god stop doing this!" He groans. Why is he so frustrated? Why am I so confused?

"Stop doing what?" I ask now equally frustrated.

"Stop cleaning! Stop acting like your dad's going to show up tomorrow." He yells. He tries to yank the broom away from me but I snatch it out of his reach.

"Why wouldn't he be? He comes that time every year." I say with a frown. What the hell is he talking about?

"Your father is dead. Your father is gone and he's not living. He's not coming back. You don't have a father anymore." He groans.

My eyebrows come together in the middle of my forehead. "What are you talking about..." I say.

"Your father was found in a boat..."

"He died of water inhalation."

"Rope marks on his wrists.."

"We're going to catch this sick bastard..."

"Why?" I say as I fall to my knees. "Why!" I yell, looking up at Jean. He sighs, squatting in front of me. "My father was a great guy! He never did anything to hurt anybody! All he wanted to do was give the creatures of the sea a better life! Why! Why do I always have to be lonely! Why do people keep leaving me!" I shout. Angry tears slide down my face. "It isn't fair!" I yell.

Jean picks me up to my feet. "It isn't fair, Eren." He says holding me until my legs decide to support my own weight. "Nothing in the world is." Jean says.

"Why is it always me though?" I beg. "I just want to be happy." I say.

"Eren my mom cooked us some breakfast, let's go." He says sliding his arm around my quivering shoulders.

I silently eat breakfast with my bestfriend and his mother. Jean continuously tries to stir up conversation but it doesn't hold out. It just becomes annoying small talk. We don't know what to talk about, and I can tell everyone is slightly uncomfortable. No one wants to bring up my father even though I can tell it's burning a hole in Ms Kirschtein's mind.

His mother looks really upset and she isn't interested in talking at all.

"Excuse me while I get some fresh air." I say. My face is emotionless as I scoot out my chair, adjust my shirt, and leave.

I sit out on Jean's dock with my feet resting in the water, reaching up at the lowering clouds, trying fruitlessly to touch them, to feel a texture. There's going to be another storm tonight. My arm comes back down to earth and naturally, it goes to cover my face and I begin to cry. I'd give anything to have my father back. I just want to see him again. I want to see him smile, I want to see him roll his eyes when I talk about moving back to the suburbs. I just want my father. It felt somewhat good pretending my father was alive but it makes facing reality so much harder. 

"Eren, your father was a great man." A soothing voice says. A hand comes down to rest on my shoulder and I look up at Jean's mom. She looks extremely gloomy. My father and her were good friends. They were always happy to help the other. "Looks like a rough storm is coming, not like the one last night, this ones going to be big." She says as she sits down next to me.

"My father... Uh the roof used to always leak when it would rain hard so he'd... Heh, he'd use uh... Cereal boxes and he'd tape them on top of the roof. I was like ha, dad what are you doing? And he said 'Making it so it doesn't rain on our heads tonight.' I'm like dad, once the rain makes the cardboard all soggy, it's going to leak through and it will still rain on our heads. And he just started laughing. Hahaha." I laugh painfully. It kind of hurts my chest. I look over at Jean's mother and a tear rolls down her cheek.

Her hand grips the back of my neck affectionately and she softly pads at my skin. "I'm so sorry for everything." She says. Her hand slowly slides off of me and she uses it to help thrust herself in the water. She paddles out to the deep water and I frown.

"Ms. Kir-"

"Tell my son I love him." She says and her head sinks under the water.

I stare blankly at the water for a moment. What? What is she doing? I slowly stand to my feet. Where is she? She's....! 

I can't go in there after her. "Jean!" I shout looking back at his door. She's been under for atleast 30 seconds, in about 30 more she will either resurface or die. "Jean!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Why is she trying to kill herself? I don't understand? Is it because my father is dead? Did she have feelings for him?

I hear Jean's rushed footsteps behind me. "Eren, where's my mom?" He yells frantically.

"The water. She jumped in. She's been in there for about a minute." I say.

Jean's eyes go wide and he leaps into the water, and I mean he dives head first. I feel worthless as I just stand at the dock looking out at Jean as he tries to save his mother.

The clouds get lower and the sky gets darker, the shade of Levi's eyes. I feel a light drizzle falling onto my bare arms and it makes it hard to see out into the water. It's the scariest thing ever when the water and the sky become one. If you can't differentiate between the two, then anything you try to do in the water is a lost cause.

Every second that goes by feels like a minute. I can't see anything in this horrible weather, my bad eyesight doesn't help either. I almost pee on myself when I see my best friend's head pop out of the water. I'm so relieved.

Jean's strong arms lift his mother from the water and he carries her to the beach. I run along the dock and turn towards them. "Is she-"

"No!" Jean barks. He gives me a long hard death stare before giving CPR to his mother. He pushes desperately at her chest. When that proves ineffective he applies his mouth to hers and continues the chest compressions. I feel out of place. I want to help, but I don't know what to do. What could I even do?

"Mom!" Jean shouts. "Mom, please." He says. "I know you're tired of all this but please come back." He says. He desperately fights for her life but I know it's too late. He knows it's too late.

"Jean, it's okay. She's gone." I say quietly. "You've done so well." I add and I don't necessarily know what I meant by it.

His eyes slowly lift from his mother's corpse, to my face. This look he gives me, it instills terror on my entire body. This look is one I've never received from Jean before. He softly lays his mother's head down on the soft sand and stands to his feet. He inches towards me and I back away, backing towards the dock.

It's him.

A grave ill feeling bubbles up in my stomach.

I can't believe it.

It's him.

"You killed my mother." He says. His hands are tightly pinched in hard fists and his whole body is tense.

"N-no. I didn't. She killed herself. She jumped right in-"

"You killed her." He says.

I'm seriously debating if I should make a run for it. Jean can swim and I cannot. If I do happen to make it to the boat, he can tip it and I will die. If I don't make it to the boat and I jump in the water, without the need of him drowning me, I'll die. There is no way out.

"She killed herself. She said she loves you. She told me to tell you that before she jumped in. Believe me Jean. Stop trying to scare me. Knock all of the creepy stuff off." I plead. I smile a fake imitation-playful smile. I'm fine with knowing he's the killer and both he and I  pretend it's never happened. If he stops right here, no matter what evidence or proof that's against him, I will stand by him.

"I believe that she jumped in. But she'd never let herself die. She would've swam back up so you had help. Where's your mermaid friend Levi?" He asks.

No.

That sells it.

He knew all along. He knew Levi was a mermaid.

No.

Not my best friend. Not the only friend I have.

Butterflies, or is it the organisms, something stirs around in my stomach. I'm so lightheaded and now my stomach is upset.

"That's right. I know about his tail. You look sort of pale Eren." He says.

"C-can I ask you a question?" I ask. I'm a few feet away from the dinghy. If I could just distract him long enough... "The family that lived where Rod lives now, why did they leave?" I almost trip over my foot and that gives me a mini heart attack.

"They were fisherman. We couldn't handle competition, mother and I. So I politely asked them to leave. Well not politely..." He says.

He reaches for his hip, underneath his shirt and in the dark I can see the blade. It's the fishing knife. It really is him.

What happened to the simple days? I guess they really are gone. Jean, why?

All of the wrong suspicions I made about Rod. I knew it was Jean all along didn't i?

The only one able to drive in the ocean, skilled fisherman...

I should've listened to Levi.

"One more question." I say. "Did you kill my father?" I ask. I put my hands in the air as his fingers tickle the handle sticking out of his pants.

"Did you know he knew about mermaids? He knew exactly who was being killed and why." He says.

I slowly climb into the dinghy. "No. Why did you kill all of those living creatures?" I ask.

"They were ruining the ecosystem. Eating the small fish that the bigger fish ate. Mother and I had to sell those bigger fish but since their food was rapidly running out we knew we had to do something. So your dad made the mistake of telling my mother on his way out of town about the mermaids and that's when I got started. I killed all but one, Levi. All of that specific clan. My mother wanted to back out after I killed your father." He says.

My blood feels so hot. How can a person be so selfish? I want to throw up. I want to punch him in the face. It's like he doesn't even know that what he did was wrong. "Jean it-" I begin before I'm cut off.

"No, I think that's enough talking for now. I can start a new life." He says lunging at me.

"Wait! Wai-" he knocks me off of the boat and into the water.

I don't feel any hands on me so I guess he's lost me. I sink down into the darkness, holding my breath which I can only do for a minute. What's the point anyway? What's the point of trying? I have nothing. I have no one. 

My father is gone. I am alone.

Atleast Jean isn't down here killing me, I can die peacefully and float to the bottom of the lake. My life, what has it been up until now? Nothing. I've contributed nothing to society. My father was a scientist at least. But me, I'm nothing.

I look up towards the surface, but I remember I can't differentiate from the sky and water.

If this is the end then....

 

Then I feel it. I feel it. Something swimming inside of my stomach. It's them. My eyes shoot open. That's right. I have Levi... I have these organisms inside of me. 

When I need them the most these organisms remind me that they're here. They remind me of a special bond I made with another person. From the moment you meet another person, you can't be alone. My arms are wings flying to freedom. The water is the air beneath my wings and I flap them. I flap them twice. I flap them again and my face feels cold. Cold means there is wind blowing and you can't feel wind under water.

I made it. I take a loud deep breath, taking all the oxygen around me inside of me. I open my eyes and look around for my dock. Bingo. It's so far away but at least I know where it is. My eyesight isn't what it used to be but my father told me once that you can see better when you're scared. I guess there's truth to that. I drag one arm above my head and leap back underwater. I use both hands to push the water in front of me, behind me. I can feel it, the water is moving. No, it's not the water, it's me. I'm moving.

I'm swimming.

I go faster and faster, my legs a sloppy mess but who cares about form when they're fighting for their life? It's not just my life I'm fighting for. I'm fighting for the lives of the organisms and the lives that live in my memories. The life of my mother before the incident, I'm fighting for the life of my father, I'm fighting for the life of the bonds I've created, I'm fighting for the life of the love I've made, I'm fighting for the life of a future I want with Levi. I'm fighting and I won't give up.

I pick my head up above the water to take a breath but as soon as I do, hands are coming towards me. Jean's hands. He holds my head by the top and by my chin as he dunks it back underwater. I struggle to get back to the surface using my hands to push him away. Nothing's working but I can't give up. I didn't come this far for nothing.

I try to punch him in the stomach but the water suppresses the force.

I open my eyes as I run low on oxygen and I see something speeding towards Jean and I at a rapid pace.

Those red eyes...

Levi quickly separates Jean and I. It's so dark outside so I don't know what's going on. I hear animalistic screeching and Jean's grunts. There's a serious power struggle in the water and my head feels light with déjà vu. 

"The... Last mermaid." Jean growls.

I strain my eyes and I see Levi holding Jean's head underwater.

"He's got a knife!" I yell out to Levi.

"Eren, how are you-"

"I can swim now. He has a knife!" I warn urgently.

"Good. Get to the dock. Hurry. Get to- haaah~!!" Levi moans in pain. All the color drains from my face. "Eren, go." He says, his voice soft and raspy. He stabbed him. Jean stabbed him. Levi's pointed ears begin to loose their color and his face is becoming pale, almost glowing in the dark. Where did he stab him? Where?

"Levi?" I shout as his eyes begin to droop.

"Finally, I win." Jean says grabbing Levi's head and chin and forcing it underwater.

"GET OFF OF HIM!" I yell. I slowly swim towards them and Levi's hand snakes around Jean's neck. A pool of red surrounds us as if Levi had just opened a bag of blood underwater.

"What am I doing? He's a mermaid he can breathe underwater." He says. He pulls Levi up out of the water and reaches underneath. "Where's the knife?" Jean yells.

Levi holds Jean's fishing knife up to his throat. "Levi don't kill him!" I yell. As awful as it sounds, I couldn't watch someone kill the only person who has stuck with me for so long. I couldn't watch a murder of someone I knew.

The air is so chilling as Levi stares blankly at me. Jean's hand suspiciously slips underwater and he brings it back up with another knife.

"It's over Jean." I say in a pleaful tone.

The rain begins to get harder and I can't see a foot in front of me. I hear more screeching and grunts and another battle ensues. I feel so hopeless and so useless as I just float around in the water as my ex-best friend tries to kill the love of my life. I swim closer to them and Levi throws one of the knives into the water and holds the other up to Jean's throat.

"It's over Jean, I don't want to kill you." Levi says. His voice is still soft and raspy.

He let's Jean back away from him and Jean's face changes. He looks sad somehow and then he begins to ball his eyes out. "I just wanted to help my mom. We make a living off of the fish and... And she was so tired." He sobs.

Levi slowly swims towards me with a weak smile. I'm sure he's proud of himself and once he reaches me, he wraps his cold arms around my neck and kisses me tenderly on the lips.

"Eren, I love you." He says. I can feel the sand with my feet and when I turn around I can see my dock.

"I love you too Levi." I say.

"Eren?" Levi calls. "Can you carry me?" He asks. I frown at the strange request. This warm feeling can't be produced in any other way. This mermaid makes me feel alive. Even though it's freezing out here, and I'm soaking wet, a fever like warmth is spreading through me. I guess this is what love is. A huge smile stretches across my face.

"Okay." I say picking him up in the chest-high water. He looks like a bride, sitting in my arms, arms around my neck, and looking up at me with soft red eyes. His scales feel strange but familiar on my fingertips. I wonder what I feel like to him. I wonder if I make warmth spread throughout his body.

"Eren." He calls and I look down at him. His slimy fingers slide down my chest and settle on my chin as he brings it down to his face. He kisses me again softly this time and very quickly.

When the water is at my waist I look down at Levi's tail. Fresh blue like water it is and it's getting paler. He really hurt you didn't he? The organisms in my belly become restless as Levi slides his hand down rest over it. He blinks slowly as he looks up at me.

I look over at the deep, bloody slit in the middle of his tail and I feel horrible. If only I had let him kill Jean, he wouldn't be hurt. That first time when Jean brought me to the ocean I should have allowed him to kill Jean. The fact that Levi is hurt is my own fault. I can't blame anyone but myself.

"Levi, since this is finally over do you want to be a human and live with me?" I ask.

"Okay." He says.

"But do you want to?" I ask.

"I'll do anything for you because I love you Eren. I want to stay with you, I want to be friends with you, I want to make love to you, I want to keep you company. Anything you want, I want for you." He says.

My cheesy smile is interrupted by the sound of quick heavy footsteps in the water. I turn around and Jean is only a foot away from us holding the knife of his that Levi discarded. I don't have time to react, that blade is going right into my eye.

Just as the knife is closing in on me, and Levi is climbing up my shoulder to try to protect me, a gunshot cracks my eardrum and Jean flies to the left. He falls dead into the water, floating on his stomach and blood surrounds his head.

As the sky is lighting up, I look out into the water and Rod Reiss is in a dinghy right near my dock. He lowers his gun to his side.

"Why did you help us?" I ask sitting on the beach. Levi lays down next to me and Rod massages salt into his tail.

"I got some friends who can fix that hole in your dock." Rod says.

"Come on." I whine.

"Because, kid. I already told you that I could trust you. I was watching around making sure everything was alright and I saw some things." Rod says.

He looks away from Levi as his tail begins to split. "Thank you Rod." Levi says so genuinely. "Thank you for saving Eren and me."

"Hey I only saved you because you promised to keep my girls safe." Rod says. Levi and I both snort. "I thought you were the monster but you proved me wrong. Sorry for holding that old gun in your face." Rod says.

"Sorry for threatening to kill your girls." Levi says. I look down at Levi's irritated looking, but unwounded legs and I smile.

"How's about y'all go on and put some clothes on, then come on over and meet the girls. Eren you already met Krista and I swear she's in love with you." Rod says chuckling.

Levi sits up then turns to look at me. "Is she prettier than me?" He asks.

When Rod leaves Levi and I run around on the beach. We play some weird form of volleyball, then we make love. We play soccer with no goals, mostly dribbling, then we make love again. We race each other on land and in the water, we make out, then we make love again. By the end of the day we forgot all about Rod's invitation. We float on our backs in the lake holding hands. Since the sun shines so brightly now, we're forced to shut our eyes. But it's fine like this. I don't need to see Levi to know he's here. I don't need to be holding his hand. I know that he loves me and that's enough. That let's me know that no matter what Levi is always here. These organisms that have tripled in population let me know that I'm not alone. They constantly remind me of the bond I have with Levi. They constantly remind me that Levi and I love each other so much.

Through this man, I've put aside so many of my fears; the fear of being alone and my fear of swimming. I've put aside my disgust of fish. He's opened my eyes to the beauty of loving another being and I don't want them to ever shut again.

A mermaid and a man, that Disney cliche. It's a tale as old as time. That mermaid with the eyes that reminded me of the frequent storms had a smile that would bring out the sun.

The sun.

My loneliness was my most frequent feeling but it has been replaced, it has been consumed by happiness. The moon and dark skies are the most frequent around here and rarely are we visited by the sun. Yet on days like today the sun does choose to make an appearance.

The sun is quite courageous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so proud of myself.  
> I have the extra Take Care Easter special chapter finished already. (Posting on Easter :) I have the first chapter of my April story already completed  
> And now, I finished this.
> 
> There were moments when I wanted to rush but I slowed myself down and I took a deep breath but yeah let me know what you all thought
> 
> Was the ending rushed? Did you like it? What would you have liked to happen? And oh yeah! Before I forget should I make a like alien au type thing?
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading. And you guys who read all my stories, I notice you!!! I just wanted to let you know that!!! I notice you and I love you. Haha I'll be back in April which is in a few hours don't cry


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